No More
by The Naruto Addict
Summary: Naruto has had it with his treatment from the people he has sworn to protect. No longer will people treat him badly. Why? Because he is Uzumaki Naruto.
1. Chapter 1:Enough is Enough

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech

No More

Chapter 1: Enough is Enough

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!", yelled Naruto as he ran to catch up with the silver-haired Jounin. It was just after their daily haul of D-ranked missions.

"Ma, ma, Naruto, not so loud, I'm not deaf you know.", replied Kakashi. As usual his nose was stuck in the latest copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

" This way I know you can hear me.", Naruto retorted. "Anyway, I need you to help me with my taijutsu because I don't have an actual form and..."

" Sorry Naruto.", Kakashi cut in. "I have to train Sasuke. If you want to improve work on your chakra control then..."

"NO!!", Naruto yelled. " My chakra control won't improve any further with just the tree climbing exercise, I'll need a much more...KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!!"

Unfortunately for Naruto, Kakashi had left via a quick Shunshin(1). With nothing to do, Naruto began walking to Ichiraku's.

_ "Why does he keep doing this to me?"_, Naruto wondered as he walked down the road towards Ichiraku's. _"Does he think that I don't deserve training or does he think that.._OUCH"

Naruto was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Sakura and Ino coming towards him and walked right into them.

"GRRR, NARUTO, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!", shrieked Sakura.

"BAKA, YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT!!", screamed Ino.

"Gomen, I wasn't..." But before he could explain the two kunoichi set upon and began pummeling him with their fists. They left him bruised and downtrodden on the side of the street.

"That ought to teach him to pay attention, eh Ino?", said Sakura as they walked away.

"I don't know Sakura, after all he was dead-last wasn't he?", replied Ino.

After they left, Naruto picked himself of the ground, dusted his jumpsuit and continued his walk thinking about the recent event.

_"Why does Sakura-chan beat me up almost everyday? Its not like I do anything that bad. Come to think of it, she mostly beats me up just for trying to be nice to her and idolizes Sasuke-teme who ignores her. Urggh, I actually have a crush on this girl?"_

He was suddenly woken from his thoughts by a bottle narrowly missing his head. He looked up to see a drunk villager preparing to throw another one.

"Get out of here, you damned demon. You killed my wife and my brother and I vow to avenge them". He threw the other bottle and Naruto dodged it and run away, heading for his sanctuary, the Yondaime's head.

_"Why are most of the people I have sworn to protect treating me badly or ignoring me completely? How am I going to protect my precious people if I'm not strong? By Kami_.....I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!!", Naruto yelled. "No one is ever going to push me around or ignore me again. Why? Because I'll make you pay attention starting today and I will become Hokage."

And Naruto began his quest for power and recognition."

"First stop, HOKAGE TOWER!!! Maybe the old man can help."

A/N: Well this is my first fanfic. I hope you all enjoy it. I'll leave pairings for later till I develop the story a bit. Read & Review please. Inputs are welcomed.

(1) **Shunshin no Jutsu**: Body Flicker Technique


	2. Chapter 2:The Way Foward

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech

No More

Chapter 2: The Way Forward

Naruto was running through the streets of Konoha. His destination was the Hokage Tower.

_"I wonder what Jiji can do for me"_, he thought as he ran. "_He might tell me to change my clothes, stop eating ramen and not to use Oiroke no Jutsu anymore but all those things and more are what makes me Uzumaki Naruto. I will not change them."_

As he ran through the crowds, he drew numerous stares as usual. Some of disgust, some of disdain and a very select few looked at him with pride. He noticed their stares and ignored them.

_"You can stare at me anyway you want to for now...but I won't let it bother me because with or without you......I WILL BE HOKAGE!!!"_

When he reached the Hokage Tower, he burst through the reception without even glancing at the secretary and kicked the door to the Hokage's office open.

"SARU-JIJI!!", he yelled. "I NEED YOUR HELP, DATTEBAYO"

The Hokage merely smiled at the young ninja. He had been watching Naruto through his crystal ball and heard his proclamation, thus he was prepared for the blond-haired hyperactive ninja.

"Calm down Naruto and tell me what the problem is." He said.

Naruto took a seat and said, "Jiji, I need to stop people from pushing me around or ignoring me. It has gone on for far too long and I have had enough of it. Today, Kakashi-sensei refused to train me, telling me to work on chakra control. But the only control exercise he has taught me is the tree climbing exercise. I'll need a more difficult exercise than that to gain better chakra control. Also, Sakura-chan and Ino ganged up on me when I run into them on the street and didn't even give me a chance to explain. They think of me as an idiot who can do nothing right but they won't even give me a chance to prove them wrong. I admit I'm not as smart as they are but that does not give them any right to look down on me. To cap it all off, a drunk villager tried to pelt me with a couple of beer bottles. I need to get these people to see me in a different light. So Sarutobi-jiji, I've come to you to help me. I've sworn to protect these people and gain their respect and there is only one way I know how."

"You wish to become strong enough to be the Hokage, right Naruto?"

"Hai Jiji"

"Then lets start with your weaknesses and pick up from..."

"I know that my taijutsu and chakra control suck", Naruto cut in. "I'm not what you would call book smart and my knowledge of genjutsu is the size of a pin prick. What else needs improvement?"

"Well your choice of clothing is not practical for a ninja because it is very easy to spot orange anywhere and anytime. You should also stop playing pranks, no one is going to respect you if you continue with that. Also try not use Oiroke no....Naruto, is something wrong?"

Naruto, who had been trying to suppress his laughter(quite badly), began to giggle and was soon rolling on the floor laughing so hard tears fell out of his eyes. The Hokage, however, was not amused.

"NARUTO!!", he yelled.

"Sorry jiji but you're way too predictable. Anyway, forget those three suggestions. Those three are part of a whole that makes Uzumaki Naruto. Without one of them, you might as well start dressing me like Sasuke....and you know what I think of the teme."

"But Naruto..."

"Look at it from a different perspective jiji. With orange, I can gain more in stealth training than anybody else because my clothes will work against me instead of with me like some of the other ninja. With pranking, I get experience in infiltration and covert ops. After all even ANBU couldn't stop me from entering their headquarters."

"What about Oiroke no Jutsu?"

"Every ninja has its quirks and you can say I have a lot more than your average ninja."

*sigh* "All right then Naruto. Tell me what you think your greatest strengths are."

"My huge amount of chakra, my stamina and Kage Bunshin."

"You are also capable of making up good strategies in the heat of battle and your determination is unsurpassed. If we can combine you strengths and reduce your weaknesses, we can make you the greatest ninja ever."

"But first I need an actual taijutsu style instead of just using what comes to me."

"Well.... we'll come to that soon. Come with me."

Naruto followed the Hokage into a room filled with books and scrolls.

"This is my personal library, I'm giving you limited access to it. You can use any of the scrolls at this corner."

Sarutobi pointed out a corner just adjacent to the door. He also pulled out a scroll from that corner and handed it to Naruto.

"This taijutsu style should be good for you but you are welcome to adjust it to suit your needs and shortcomings. It would be better if you create your own taijutsu style but at least you can use this as a base."

"Don't worry jiji, I won't let you down, but this doesn't solve my problem with Sakura-chan"

"Yes, that an issue I need to discuss with you, why do you allow her to hit you so many times?"

"To do otherwise would make her angry and you know how..."

"I know", Sarutobi cut in. "But allowing her to hit you also reduces your self-worth in her eyes. She thinks if she can hit you so many times then you must be weak."

Naruto was quiet for a moment.

"....I never thought of that."

"Don't worry Naruto just do your best and don't let her hit you. Also take this."

He placed a rectangular piece of paper in Naruto's hand.

"Oi jiji, what is this?"

"It is a test to see which elemental affinity you have. Almost every ninja has an elemental affinity. This makes it easier for you to learn and use jutsus of that element. Channel some chakra into the paper."

Naruto did and the card split into two and both halves got wet.

"What does that mean, jiji?"

The Hokage was shocked and took a little time composing himself before answering Naruto.

"Well Naruto, it looks like you have two affinities. They are for Fuuton and Suiton Jutsus. I have quite numerous scrolls on water manipulation and Suiton jutsus but not as many on Fuuton. There are not many wind users in the Konoha so you might have to make some Fuuton Jutsus yourself."

"Does this mean I won't be able to learn any other jutsus?"

"No, but it will be much harder. I recommend that you try to learn some Raiton jutsus. This way you will be able to counter all other jutsus that are used against you."

He handed Naruto a number of books on nature manipulation.

"Thanks jiji, any tips before I leave?"

"Well, just one. Shadow Clones retain and transfer their memories and gained knowledge when they dispel. You could have some of them do other exercises that don't demand physical exertion like chakra control as you work on something else."

"SUGOI!! Thanks jiji, since I can make so many I can accomplish a lot of training in one hour. Wow!"

"Slow down Naruto, don't use too many at once or you could kill yourself. Start with five Shadow Clones and when you get used to it, increase the number slowly."

"Okay, thanks again old man, I'll see you later."

Naruto jumped through the window of the Hokage's office and began heading for a secluded spot to train.

The Hokage smiled and pulled out a copy of Icha Icha Paradise and began reading, ignoring his paper work for now.

"Oi, jiji."

Sarutobi literally jumped out of his seat when he heard Naruto's voice.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Why don't you use Shadow Clones to do your paperwork? That way you will have a lot of time to read your porn." He said before leaving the office.

To say the Hokage was stunned was an understatement. He was absolutely shocked and furious at the previous Hokages for not sharing their wisdom.

_"They must be laughing at me wherever they are but don't worry finally paperwork is CONQUERED!!"_

He created a couple of Shadow Clones and as they did the paperwork, he continued reading. But his thoughts soon turned to Konoha's Most Unpredictable Ninja.

_"Look out world, Uzumaki Naruto is coming and no one will be the same when he arrives."_


	3. Chapter 3: Beginnings

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech

No More

Chapter 3: Beginnings.

After leaving the Hokage tower, Naruto headed for his apartment building. He jumped over the rooftops to avoid the villagers and the shinobi who didn't like him.

_"JIJI IS SO COOL!!! With all this help I'll become strong very quickly. Look out Sasuke-teme, the next time we spar, you'll never know what hit you!"_

Soon he reached his apartment building. It was located in one of the seediest parts of Konoha. His apartment also happened to be the most rundown apartment in the building. He quickly entered his apartment and looked around. It was quite untidy with clothes hanging around, dishes waiting to be done and his furniture looked like it had been donated to an orphanage and rejected. Naruto didn't care, it was his home. He shut the door behind him and began sorting out the scrolls and books, eager to start his training. But before he could do anything, he heard a knock on his door. When answered it, a scowl crossed his face.

"What do you want, teme?", he demanded.

Uchiha Sasuke just gave one his patented grunts.

"Are you going to talk or get out of my face?"

"Shut it dobe, you should consider yourself lucky that I'm here, I could have refused to tell you that we have a team meeting soon."

"Why didn't you say so instead of standing there brooding like an emo? Go on ahead, I'll be there soon."

"Dobe."

"Teme."

Sasuke left and Naruto shut the door.

_"I'll be there in...let say two hours till then......._Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!(1)

Naruto created four shadow clones.

"All right, one of you should read the chakra control book start with the first exercise, the rest of you should read the books on nature manipulation. Don't start the exercises yet, just read the theories. Dispel one at a time starting with the chakra control guy followed by the rest of you. Is that clear?"

"YOSH!!" replied the shadow clones and the picked up their books and started reading. Naruto picked up the taijutsu scroll and began to read. He came across a storage seal.

"Wait a minute Jiji told me about these things when I was younger... yeah that's right."

He channeled his chakra into part of the seal it released some chakra weights along with a note. Naruto picked up the note and began to read.

_"To whom this may concern"_

_"These weights are my pride and joy. After many years of failures and successes I have made the ultimate set of weights. Unlike other weights that only strengthen a few parts of your body, these weights will strengthen your whole body. This is possible to the special resistance seals that are on the weights. They are also very simple to use. After putting them on, just push chakra into them until they are at the appropriate weight. More chakra will make them heavier. If you are in a battle and need to release your weights just form the following seals; dog, rat, dog. The chakra in the weights will immediately return to you chakra coils giving you an edge in battle. Use them wisely and secretively, they are yours now._

_"Namikaze Minato (Konoha no Kiroi Senkou_(2)_), the Fourth Hokage._

Naruto could barely contain his glee. He had in his possession chakra weights that were the Yondaime's pride and joy. With them he would become the hero the Yondaime always wanted him to be. He quickly slipped them on and started pushing chakra into them. However, in his hurry he pushed too much chakra into them and crashed into the floor of his apartment. The shadow clones burst into gales of laughter.

"HA HA HA! That's what you get for being in such a hurry!", one of the said.

Naruto began grumbling about stupid shadow clones and stupid weights as he released the weights. Calming down, he began to push chakra into the weights at a much slower pace. When they were heavy enough he stopped and started walking around, getting used to the weight. His eyes fell on the clock and he saw that he had about an hour left.

_"I'd better leave now or else I'd be even later Kakashi-sensei."_

Naruto left his apartment and made his way towards Training Ground 7, official training grounds for Team 7. After 30 minutes he reached the meeting spot. It was a very grassy land surrounded by a forest. Nearby a lake flowed. It had all the requirements and necessities needed for a ninja's training. Finding his teammates already there he went to a corner and began doing push-ups, sit-ups and squats. Since he didn't walk up to Sakura and ask her out on a date, Sasuke and Sakura didn't even notice Naruto. After a while Kakashi appeared and gave a lazy wave as a greeting.

"YOU'RE LATE!!", screamed Sakura.

"Well.... on my way I ran into a bunch of missing-nin who tried to steal....where is Naruto?"

"Naruto-baka is also late, he is so..."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell lies about your teammate", Kakashi cut in. "Naruto is right there."

Sasuke and Sakura turned and saw Naruto walking towards them.

"BAKA!!", Sakura shrieked. "Why are you late?!"

"I wasn't late", Naruto replied."You are just early."

"You were supposed to be here two hours ago, dobe", Sasuke said.

"But the meeting is starting right now, isn't it teme?"

"BAKA!! Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!!"

Sakura threw a punch at Naruto only for him to puff into smoke revealing...Sasuke. Naruto had used a Kawarimi(3) to replace himself with Sasuke.

"SASUKE-KUN!!". Sakura was mortified.

"That wasn't very nice, Sakura. You can't go around punching your teammates." said Kakashi.

"NARUTO!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"

"Calm down Sakura, we're having a meeting. Anyways, all the jounin have been given missions. We will be away for two weeks. Naruto I want you to practice your chakra control while I'm away. Sakura, practice your weapon accuracy. Sasuke, come with me. Meeting adjourned."

Kakashi and Sasuke left together to train. Sakura went chasing after them,hoping to get a date with Sasuke. Naruto continued his physical workout. At dusk, he made his way towards Ichiraku's. He was exhausted and hungry. But he didn't care, no pain, no gain. He walked up to the stand and took a seat.

"Oji-san, two bowls of miso ramen!!"

"Coming right up!!"

As he waited for his ramen he thought to himself.

_"Two weeks without Kakashi-sensei. When he come back, boy he'll be surprised."_

Ayame, the daughter of Ichiraku delivered Naruto's order.

"Here you go, Naruto."

"ITADAKIMASU!!"

Naruto began eat his ramen at a shockingly fast pace. In less than ten minutes he had eaten fifteen bowls of ramen. After he was done, he let out a huge belch.

"That was good."

He paid his bill and left the stand heading towards his home. On his way he was suddenly hit with memories of having practiced a chakra control exercise known as Leaf Concentration. It involved him sticking a leaf to his forehead using chakra. He could only do it for a minute before..."

The memory suddenly cut short at that point. Naruto rushed towards the nearest tree and plucked a leaf. He took of his forehead protector and began to practice the exercise. He was soon able to do this for two minutes.

"Yes, my control is getting better...ouch"

The other clones had dispelled and the influx of memories gave Naruto a headache.

"Oh I'm definitely going slow with this training."

But Naruto was not bothered, he was encouraged to proceed as quickly as possible through this training.

_"Soon I'll be using a thousand Shadow Clones to train and finish the training of one year in one DAY!!"_

A/N:The third chapter is out now and I'm still waiting out the pairings.

(1)Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shadow Clone Technique. This is a B-ranked kinjutsu native to Konoha. This technique makes solid/corporeal clones capable of individual thought and action. These clones transmit whatever they learn to their maker, thus they are ideal for training, infiltration and information gathering. The downside is that the Shadow Clone Jutsu requires a large amount of chakra.

(2)Konoha no Kiroi Senkou: Konoha's Yellow Flash. The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato became famous for his technique, the Flying Thunder God Technique with which he killed over half of Iwa's forces. He earned this name and SS-ranked status in Iwa's bingo book, with a flee on sight order.

(3)Kawarimi no Jutsu: Replacement Technique. This is a D-ranked jutsu that is taught to academy students. It enables the user switch himself or herself with an object or person (though the latter is very difficult) to avoid harm.


	4. Chapter 4:Preparations

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech

No More

Chapter 4: Preparations.

The next day Naruto got up at 6AM. Naruto couldn't help but be shocked as well.

_"I must be much more excited than I thought if I'm waking up this early. Now to plan my schedule"_

He quickly went through his morning rituals and picked up a piece of paper and a pen. He contemplated a bit and began to write.

_"I'll need to work on a lot of chakra control and mastering the jutsus I already know. I've seen Kakashi-sensei use Kawarimi without handseals, maybe I can try that too._

After quite a few drafts, he came up with something appropriate.

Monday: Taijutsu training & Chakra control.

Tuesday: Nature Manipulation & Chakra control.

Wednesday: Jutsu Practice & Mastery

Thursday: Projectiles and Chakra control.

Friday: Fuinjutsu training (maybe with Jiji's help)

Saturday: Research, Studies and Genjutsu training.

Sunday: Survival Training

_"Okay, I believe this covers everything, I thought about. With my huge chakra reserves, it is only natural that I put a lot of focus on chakra control. I wish I could have more time for taijutsu since i suck at it but I will have to make do. The same goes for jutsu mastery and projectiles...*sigh*... nothing comes easy it seems. Now then...fuinjutsu has endless possibilities, there is no excuse for me to not take advantage of it. The Fourth himself was a seal master...but I'll need help to be any good at it. Genjutsu will take a lot of work without the required chakra control but it is a deadly branch of the shinobi arts, I can't abandon it. Of course, I'll need brains to go along with the brawn because the time will come when I have to outsmart my opponent. Finally survival training...specifically geared to enable me survive with the barest of supplies. I think I'll be spending that day in the wild, catching my own food, protecting myself from wildlife...this will not be easy."_

Naruto let out a sigh and checked the time. It was 8AM, time to get cracking. He prepared and ate a breakfast of ramen then left his apartment intent on doing some training. He stretched a bit and channeled a bit more chakra into his weights, then he began running laps around Konoha. After a few hours, Naruto was hot, sweaty and tired.

"Dang, these weights are troublesome...I sound like that lazy guy, Shikamaru"

Naruto smiled as he recalled the lazy, dark-haired genius with a hairstyle that looked like a pineapple. He was the heir to the Nara clan but he always slept in class, scored averagely on the written tests and was terrible at the physical exercises. He was now on Team 10 with his best friend Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino, the kunoichi who helped Sakura pummel Naruto that fateful day.

Shaking his head, Naruto pushed those thoughts away and continued with his laps. After one more hour he jogged to Training Ground 7 and started his physical workout of push-ups, sit-ups and the like.

* * *

In the Kumogakure, Kakashi was walking with Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai and Maito Gai. They were discussing the upcoming Chuunin Exams.

"Well", Kakashi was saying. "It will provide a good learning experience. I'm thinking of nominating my team for the exams."

"YOSH!!", Gai shouted at the top of his voice. "I CANNOT ALLOW MY RIVAL TO SURPASS ME!! I WILL ALSO NOMINATE MY TEAM TO SHOW THEIR FLAMES OF YOUTH!!"

Kakashi and Gai had a rivalry (or so Gai thought) that involved Gai throwing challenges at Kakashi that ranged from sparring matches to ridiculous games. Kakashi never admitted that they had a rivalry but, funnily enough, he had never turned down one of Gai's challenges. Social interaction, however, was another issue altogether.

"I'm sorry Gai, did you say something?"

"CURSE YOUR HIP AND COOL ATTITUDE!!"

It always irked Gai that Kakashi could ignore him so blatantly sometimes. The other jounins found it funny and sometimes treated Gai the same way.

"I'm also thinking of nominating my team for the exam.", Asuma said. "With Shikamaru's brains and Chouji's strength they might make it to the finals."

"What about Ino?", Kurenai asked.

"She will ensure that Shikamaru puts in some effort."

The jounins chuckled over this as they neared their destination.

"My team might do quite well in the exams too.", Kurenai said. "Shino is very smart and maintains a cool head in tight situations. Though Kiba is a bit brash and overconfident and Hinata is shy and does not like hurting others, they can pull through when it is needed the most. How do you think your team will do, Kakashi?"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment, then he replied.

"Well, Sasuke has huge potential, excellent taijutsu, quite a few jutsus and he has also unlocked his Sharingan making teaching him jutsus a breeze. Sakura has excellent chakra control but pathetic reserves and stamina. She could be a very good medic-nin or genjutsu specialist. Naruto...." Kakashi fell silent.

"Come on you can tell us, can't you?" Kurenai asked with a giggle in her voice.

"It can't be that bad having Naruto on your squad, is it?" Asuma followed up with a badly contained laugh.

"No, it is not that. Naruto.... is.....for lack of a better term, a wild card. This boy can pull the almost impossible when necessary. I can still remember our C turned A-rank mission. When Momoichi Zabuza captured me, Naruto came up with and executed a plan worthy of Shikamaru's genius to free me."

"What!!" Kurenai and Asuma were shocked.

"After that he defeated Zabuza's apprentice, a fake hunter-nin named Haku, when we met for the final battle. He had a unique Bloodline Limit that allowed him to use Hyoton(1) techniques. Sasuke was beaten by this ninja quite easily."

Even Gai was silent after that.

"Even though his chakra control and taijutsu are deplorable his determination is staggering and he comes up with the most ingenious plans on the fly. But I don't think he is ready for the responsibility. None of them are."

* * *

Naruto lay on the ground, exhausted after his physical workout. His muscles ached all over and he began to curse the weights. After a few minutes, he got up, still breathing hard, and stretched a bit. Soon he was back to normal and he jogged towards the village library. When he entered he was immediately accosted by the librarian. She had lost her husband and brother in the Kyuubi attack and held a deep-seated hatred for Naruto.

"What do you want here, you little brat?", she growled.

Naruto could feel the malice wafting of the woman and knew that he wasn't welcome.

"Sorry, I think I have the wrong place."

He quickly left before the woman could cause any trouble for him. Once outside, he pondered for a moment.

_"I'll need to get in there for books on sealing, I can't rely on Jiji all the time. Maybe I could try a disguise or...OF COURSE!!"_

He quickly form the ram seal and muttered,"Henge!"(2)

There was a puff of smoke and when the smoke cleared, it revealed Sasuke.

_"It's been a long time since I transformed into Sasuke-teme...but this time around I need it."_

As soon as he entered, he was once again accosted by the librarian, but she was smiling and looked very eager to help.

"Ohayo, Sasuke-sama, how may I help you today?"

Naruto could barely hold in his disgust at the librarian's behaviour. He managed to make his request anyway.

"Yes, I was wondering if I could borrow any material you had on fuinjutsu."

"Certainly, Sasuke-sama. Do you have your library card with you?"

Naruto cursed himself as he had overlooked this small detail. He decided to bluff his way out of the situation.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've left it at home, I'll go back for it and..."

"NO,NO..." the librarian screamed before she composed herself. "I could lend them to you any ways, just wait here a moment."

She strode briskly into the aisles and removed some books and scrolls from the shelves. When she returned she dropped them into Naruto's hands.

"There you go. This is enough information to make you a seal specialist, if not a seal master. You can return them when you are done"

"Thank you."

"Oh, no need Sasuke-sama, anything to help the last Uchiha."

Naruto left quickly and headed towards his apartment. When entered he dropped the henge and sorted out the books and scrolls arranging them from beginner to expert. When he was done, he let out a low whistle. The librarian was not joking when she said that this could make him a seal master.

_"For kami's sake....some of these scrolls are from the RESTRICTED section of the library. The things these villagers will do for their Uchiha."_

Naruto glanced at the clock, it was 2PM; lunchtime.

"Yippee, Ichiraku's here I come."

Naruto took off in the direction of Ichiraku's at full speed. He had forgotten he was wearing weights, so when he reached the stand he was out of breath. He collapsed (literally) on a stool, panting frantically to catch his breath and mumbling about stupid weights. He sat up and saw Ayame heading towards him.

"Ohayo, Ayame-san"

"Ohayo, Naruto. What can I get you?"

"Well, I've been told to eat healthier or else I could stunt my growth. What is the healthiest item on the menu?"

"How about some sushi with rice and red bean soup?"

"All right, two servings please."

"Sure, I'll be back soon."

As Naruto waited for his food, someone took a seat next to Naruto.

"Ohayo, Naruto."

Naruto turned to see the face of the first person to acknowledge him; the scarred chuunin who risked his life for Naruto and gave him his own hitai-ite.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!!"

Naruto was ecstatic to see his old teacher, it had been quite a while since he last saw him.

"How have you been doing, Naruto?"

"I've been doing great, dattebayo. I'm much stronger than I used to be but I need to get much stronger if I'm going to be come Hokage."

"That is great, Naruto. Remember, if you need help; I'm right here."

Naruto began formulating an idea.

"Umm...Iruka-sensei."

"What is it, Naruto?"

"I've begun a new training regime to become stronger but I can't be all brawn and no brains, can I?"

"No, you can't. What is your point?"

"I'll need help to cover all the things I missed in the academy and others I need to know about the shinobi world. Who better to help than my favorite teacher?"

Iruka was floored; Naruto actually wanted to LEARN?! After a few minutes of silence, he asked Naruto a question.

"Well, do you have a scheduled time for that?"

"Yeah, on Saturdays with genjutsu training."

"Okay, then when you come we'll see what needs to be covered and start from there."

"Thanks sensei, when and where do I meet you?"

"How about 9AM at the academy?"

"Sure, thanks again Iruka-sensei."

They both finished their ramen, paid and left the stand. Naruto immediately sprinted towards his home, eager to do some more training. Iruka walked towards the academy, thinking about his encounter with the blond, ramen-loving, unpredictable ninja in orange.

_"Naruto, all your life you struggled with no one to help you....I shall do my best to help you become the legend you were always destined to be."_

A/N:Finally chapter 4 is out. I'm also entreating all of you, if you have any suggestion that might make this story better; don't hesitate to tell me. R&R

(1)Hyoton: Ice Release. Techniques of this nature are formed from a combination of Water and Wind chakra usually with the aid of a bloodline limit. In the Mist Bloodline war, one of the bloodline limits being exterminated was the Hyoton bloodline.

(2)Henge no Jutsu: Transformation Technique. This is another academy based technique that enables the user to put up an illusion that changes his/her appearance. It can be used to impersonate or infiltrate but it is an illusion and can be dispelled. Naruto, however, is capable of making actual transformations that can not be dispelled.


	5. Chapter 5:The Chuunin Exams Are Here

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech

No More

Chapter 5: The Chuunin Exams Are Here.

Time Skip: Two Weeks Later.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was a man with a mask both literally and figuratively. The shame that enveloped him when his father took his life was overwhelming. The guilt that he felt over his best friend's death tore at him each and everyday. The loneliness he felt over the disappearance of the only woman he loved ate his soul. The passing away of his sensei, the man he regarded as a father, brought up feelings so dark they could not be described. He pressed on with the ghosts of his pasts haunting him less and less till that fateful day; the day when he was assigned his very own squad of genin to teach. It seemed like some divine entity wanted to punish him for his mistakes by giving him a team that reminded him so much of his former team to the point where he could actually see each of his teammates in each of his genin.

In Sasuke, he saw himself; A ninja prodigy with a dark past, fighting to right the wrongs of his family. The difference between Kakashi and Sasuke was that Sasuke's drive for revenge bordered on fanatic.

In Sakura, he saw Inuzuka Rin; A kunoichi with amazing chakra control and a fangirlish personality. The difference between Sakura and Rin was the fact that Rin never allowed her fangirl tendencies to run her life. She took her work as a kunoichi seriously.

In Naruto, he saw Uchiha Obito; the unconventional Uchiha. Obito had a loud, boisterous personality, always challenging Kakashi and willing to put his life on the line for his teammates. They both shared a love for orange and pranks. The difference between Naruto and Obito was a bloodline and a nine-tailed demon fox.

As he hurried to the meeting spot, he wondered what each of them had been up to in his absence. If Sakura had improved on her weapons, he would probably give her a few basic genjutsus to learn. If Naruto had improved his chakra control, he might get a few generic ninjutsus. Sasuke was already receiving enough help.

He then poofed into Training Ground 7 and was greeted with the usual from Sakura.

"YOU'RE LATE!!"

"Nice to see you too Sakura. Did you miss me?"

Sakura huffed and moved to sit beside Sasuke. Once again, Naruto wasn't there.

"Where is Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Hn...the dobe probably decided to give up." Sasuke replied.

"Of course, he is not as great as Sasuke-kun" Sakura immediately agreed with Sasuke.

Suddenly Kakashi sensed a disturbance in the atmosphere. It felt like a shunshin. Then, in a flurry of leaves, Naruto appeared in his orange and blue glory. As soon as he did, a kunai was pressed into the back of his neck.

"WHAT THE HELL, KAKASHI-SENSEI!!"

Kakashi sighed and pocketed his kunai.

_"I guess I did overreact, it could have been an ally as well."_

"So, what are we going to do today? Are you going to teach us a new jutsu?"

Kakashi shook his head, Naruto had a one-track mind when it came to training.

"Hold your horses Naruto. First off, who taught you shunshin?"

"Iruka-sensei did, dattebayo. He said it was to get me off his back...whatever that means."

Kakashi nodded his head and turned to face the others ready to start the meeting. Sasuke, however, had other ideas. He walked up to Naruto and made his request.

"Dobe, teach that jutsu you just used."

Naruto froze and turned slowly to look at Sasuke. He shook his head in disbelief

"Wait a minute, did you just ask me to teach you something?"

"Hn"

Naruto immediately made a Kage Bunshin and began to have a conversation with it.

"Did you hear that?'

"I did, the world must be coming to an end if the rookie of the year had to ask the dead-last to teach him something."

Kakashi sweatdropped at Naruto's behaviour, Sasuke was not impressed and Sakura was getting steamed.

_"SHANNARO!! HOW DARE THAT BAKA TALK ABOUT SASUKE-KUN LIKE THAT?!"_

Naruto, ignorant of or deliberately ignoring Sakura's rising ire, was not done yet._  
_

"Of course we might have taught him something if he didn't look at ask us in that way."

"Which of his many looks are you talking about?"

"You know that his 'I smell something bad...oh its just you peasants' look"

(Cue Kakashi sweatdrop)

Sakura, of course was, not going to stand for it. She immediately headed towards Naruto, intent on giving him a knuckle sandwich.

"BAKA!! DON'T TALK ABOUT SASUKE-KUN LIKE THAT!!"

She threw a fist at Naruto, who sidestepped it and stuck out his foot. Because she had put all of her weight behind the punch when she missed, she kept moving and tripped over Naruto's foot. She crashed into the ground, making her hair and dress dirty and dispelling Naruto's Kage Bunshin. To say Sakura was pissed was an understatement. She was absolutely livid that the idiot was embarrassing her in front of her future husband.(delusional much?)

"NARUTO!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"

She made to pounce on Naruto but was quickly restrained by Kakashi.

"Calm down Sakura, I have a test to conduct."

Sakura calmed down after giving Naruto a glare that promised pain after all was said and done which Naruto deliberately ignored. Kakashi sighed and turned to Naruto.

"I hope you have been working on your chakra control Naruto. If it is good enough, I will give you two jutsus that will expand the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened at Kakashi's proclamation.

_"TWO NEW JUTSUS!! This is going to be good."_

Naruto quickly ran to the nearest tree. Without pausing, he began to run up its side. When he reached the top, he turned and began running down. He continued running up and down for a minute before jumping down. Kakashi was impressed, to say the least.

"Well done Naruto, here are the two jutsus I promised you."

He handed Naruto two scrolls, one contained Bunshin Daibakuha(1), the other contained Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(2).

_"This should keep him out of my hair for a few weeks at least"_

Naruto pocketed both of them and moved to a corner of the training. Kakashi turned to Sakura and Sasuke.

"Sakura, can you demonstrate you weapons accuracy?"

Sakura nodded and turned to face a log that was used for target practice. She threw some shuriken and kunai at the target and turned to Kakashi for comments. Kakashi sighed once more.

_"She has obviously slacked off in favor of doing something else. Probably chasing Sasuke."_

"Sakura, you still need to improve at this...so use the time you spend stalking Sasuke to train a little bit."

Sakura looked at him in disbelief, how he could say something like that was beyond her.

_"SHANNARO!! How will Sasuke-kun fall in love with me if I don't follow him to ask him out?"_

Kakashi finally turned to Sasuke and gave a nod. Sasuke smirked, it meant that they would meet later on.

Kakashi signaled Naruto to join them and gave his announcement.

"Okay, listen up all of you. The Chuunin Exams are coming up and I have nominated you three to participate. There will...Naruto?"

Naruto had lifted his hand in an effort to grab Kakashi's attention.

"Sensei, we are rookies, how did you manage to get us into the exams?"

"Trust me Naruto, it wasn't that hard...maybe."

* * *

Flashback

* * *

The Hokage's office was crowed with Jounin senseis and proctors for the Chuunin Exams. A few chuunins such as Iruka were also present. The hokage cleared his throat and drew the attention of all the ninjas present.

"Now, as you all know, the Chuunin Exams are taking place in Konoha. All the jounin senseis who wish to nominate their teams step forward.'

Immediately four jounins strode forward and nominated their teams.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, nominate Team 7 consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto for the Chuunin Exams."

"I, Yuuhi Kurenai, nominate Team 8 consisting of Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata for the Chuunin Exams."

"YOSH!! I, THE YOUTHFUL MAITO GAI, NOMINATE TEAM 9 CONSISTING OF THE YOUTHFUL ROCK LEE, HIGUARASHI TENTEN AND HYUUGA NEJI FOR THE CHUUNIN EXAMS!!!!!"

"I, Sarutobi Asuma, nominate Team 10 consisting of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji for the Chuunin Exams."

There was murmuring in the room. For the first time all nine rookies were nominated. Iruka immediately protested.

"Hokage-sama!! You can't allow this. Nine of those genin graduated not so long ago. Putting them in the Chuunin Exams is very dangerous."

"Calm down" Kakashi said. "It will serve as a good learning experience for them."

"You are risking their lives so that they can LEARN!!" Iruka was visibly livid.

"Iruka." Kakashi said sharply. "Do not forget, they used to be your students but now they are our soldiers."

Iruka left the topic alone, thinking about Naruto and how he might fair in the exam.

* * *

Flashback End

* * *

"There will be ninjas from other hidden villages too so take the time you have right now seriously and prepare."

"Don't worry, we'll go to the exams and kick ass, dattebayo...at least I will."

"Shut up baka, Sasuke-kun will pass the Chuunin Exams easily, he is the best."

For the umpteenth time, Kakashi sighed as he listened to their antics. He took out three slips of paper and handed it to them. Naruto and Sasuke took theirs eagerly, Sakura was a bit reluctant.

_"I don't think I'm strong enough...but I'm with Sasuke-kun!! With him....WE WILL KICK ASS!! SHANNARO!!"_

"These are the application forms for the exams fill them out and submit them to room 301 on Monday. Ja ne."

Sasuke quickly activated his Sharingan and copied Kakashi's shunshin as he poofed away. He and Naruto then disappeared in a poof of smoke and a flurry of leaves respectively, leaving Sakura alone on the training grounds. Seeing that her crush was no where to be found, she walked home.

* * *

Sasuke appeared in front of the Uchiha District, with a small smirk on his face, finally a jutsu to escape from fangirls. Then a grimace appeared on his face.

_"It appears this jutsu takes quite a lot of chakra, I'll need to master and probably I'll be able to use it in battle. I'm getting stronger Itachi, watch out."_

A pair of yellow eyes watched as Sasuke walked into the Uchiha District. They looked snakelike.

_"Kukuku...soon, very soon."

* * *

_

Naruto appeared in front of Ichiraku's. He had been training the whole day and was very hungry.

"Two bowls of miso ramen oji-san."

"Coming right up, Naruto."

As he waited for his ramen, he remembered how much he had improved in the last two weeks. Thanks to the Kyuubi's healing, he had upped his weights at an astonishing rate and they were almost as heavy as Rock Lee's weights(he doesn't know him yet) and the third stage of the taijutsu the Hokage gave him. But that was not all that had improved.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

Naruto slammed his book on chakra control shut and let out a frustrated yell. Iruka looked up and saw that Naruto was at his breaking point.

"Iruka-sensei, none of this will help. These exercises are for those with low capacities looking to increase BOTH their control and capacity. I have mastered the necessary ones like tree and water walking but they increase my chakra capacity negating whatever control I gain."

Iruka, who was also flipping through another book on chakra control, came across a strange exercise that seemed perfect for Naruto.

"I think this one will do nicely."

He handed the book to Naruto, who read the exercise and was soon grinning from ear to ear.

"YATTA!! Thanks sensei, you're the best."

This particular exercise was designed for those with large chakra capacities looking to gain control. It involved sparring with Kage Bunshins but not just any type of sparring. Naruto had to release chakra into the bunshins as he struck them to fortify them and ensure that they didn't dispel. Perfect control would be attained when he could spar with ten bunshins for two hours. Naruto quickly got up and began to practice.

* * *

Flashback End

* * *

He had made some progress with the exercise, he could spar with five bunshins for one hour and thirty minutes and could make three Academy-level Bunshins fifty percent of the time. This also led him to an improvement in his taijutsu.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

"Okay Naruto, lets spar to see how much your taijutsu has improved."

Naruto immediately bounced to his feet and took a fighting stance. He had just mastered the third level of the taijutsu with his own variations to suit himself. It just needed testing.

"Are you ready sensei?"

"Yes I am."

Naruto charged at Iruka but Iruka noticed something. It wasn't his usual blind charge, he was going for something else. Naruto jumped and threw a spinning kick at Iruka's head. Iruka quickly blocked but Naruto, using the momentum from his previous kick swung a roundhouse kick at Iruka. With Iruka's guard already weakened and the extra momentum the kick had gained, it broke through his guard and collided with his head. Naruto took advantage of this and hit Iruka in his solar plexus. Suddenly Iruka crumpled onto the ground gasping in pain. Naruto looked at his sensei worriedly.

"Iruka-sensei, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine soon, don't worry."

After a few minutes, he got up and looked at Naruto. He was practicing his chakra control with his kage bunshins, trying to fight five of them.

"Naruto, come here"

Naruto dispelled his clones and moved to Iruka.

"Naruto, why were you releasing chakra as you fought me?"

"Nani...I don't think I was."

"You did. It was quite similar to the Jyuuken that the Hyuugas use...this could be what you have been looking for."

"What do you mean, sensei?"

"This could be your own unique fighting style, similar to Jyuuken but different."

* * *

Flashback End

* * *

And that was the birth of the Chakra Wave. It was a work in progress but it was improving. As his chakra control improved, his nature manipulation also improved. He had learned a few wind and water jutsus but he was struggling to learn a second lightning jutsu. It was a jutsu that could augment his taijutsu and he was close to using it properly Fuinjutsu was going well and he could draw a few containment and explosive seals of head. Genjutsu was where he had made the least progress, but he was able to detect genjutsus most of the time and could dispel all the genjutsus Iruka cast on him.

_"My genjutsu needs a lot of work, but I'll not give up..._OUCH!!"

Naruto was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice Ayame bring his ramen till she smacked with her napkin.

"Naruto, eat your ramen before it gets cold."

"Gomen, but did you have to hit me? That was uncalled for."

"But you wouldn't have heard me if I called you."

"And how do you know that?"

Ayame was silent at this and she just walked muttering about smart-ass blonds. Naruto smirked and slurped down his ramen. He paid and left the stand. As he walked home, he noticed that a square rock with eyeholes was trailing him. He could also sense three chakra signatures in the rock and at once knew who was following him.

"Come out, Konohamaru."

The rock exploded and released three academy students, two boys and one girl. The girl had orange hair that was tied in two pigtails. One boy had brown hair and glasses that were twice the size of his eyes. The ringleader had spiky black hair covered in a skull cap, and a green scarf that was way too long for him. What they all had in common was the goggles that they wore. They looked exactly like the ones Naruto used to wear.

"As expected of my eternal rival."

"There was nothing to it Konohamaru, rocks aren't square. They also do not have eyeholes nor do they move around. So, who are your friends?"

Quickly the bespectacled boy answered.

"I'm Udon and I like math!"

Then the orange-haired girl followed up with:

"I'm Moegi, the hottest kunoichi in the academy!"

Not to be outdone was Konohamaru with:

"And I'm Konohamaru, the number one shinobi in the academy!"

Then together they said:

"We are the Konohamaru Corps!!"

Naruto sweatdropped through their presentation, but before he could do anything, Konohamaru was pulling on his jumpsuit leading him away from the ramen stand.

"Nii-chan, you haven't played ninja with us in a long time."

"I've been busy, I promise you I'll play ninja with you later."

"A ninja playing ninja, now I've heard everything."

Naruto sighed as Sakura came from behind. Konohamaru poked Naruto.

"Hey boss, is she your...you know?"

He gestured with his little finger and Naruto knew what he was referring to.

"Of course not Konohamaru."

"Good, you could do much better than a girl with a flat chest and large forehead."

Suddenly, Naruto felt a huge amount of killing intent, Sakura had snapped and was going to kill Konohamaru.

"Konohamaru?"

"Y-y-yes boss?"

"Run."

Konohamaru took of as fast as he could run, followed by his friends. Sakura chased after them, screaming incoherently about the many ways she would kill Konohamaru. Naruto followed Sakura to stop her from doing anything rash. He caught up to them in the street and met a strange sight.

Konohamaru was sitting on the sidewalk, rubbing his face. In front of him was a girl and a boy. They both had hitai-ites that bore the crest of Suna. The girl was dressed in a battle dress and fishnet and carried a huge fan on her back. The boy was dressed in a black cat-like costume with warpaint on his face and carried a wrapped bundle behind him. He looked very annoyed.

He suddenly grabbed Konohamaru by the neck and lifted him up.

"You little brat!", he growled. "Why don't you watch where you are going? I ought to teach you a lesson."

"Let him go, Kankuro.", the girl said. "Gaara will be angry if we don't get to the hotel."

"Don't worry, Temari", Kankuro replied. "I'm just going to have some fun"

"Hey, makeup boy!", Naruto yelled. "Put the kid down now!"

A tic appeared on Kankuro's forehead.

"IT IS WARPAINT, SHRIMP!"

"Yes, it is!", Naruto yelled back. "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck and sounds like a duck; then it is a duck!"

Kankuro was so furious he dropped Konohamaru. Naruto quickly replaced himself with Konohamaru and buried his fist in Kankuro's gut. Kankuro crumpled to the floor in pain, Naruto had used his Chakra Wave.

Kankuro was beyond furious now. If he could, he would have been foaming at the mouth, such was his rage. He rose to his feet and began to remove the bundle on his back. Temari gasped.

"Are you going to use Karasu here?"

But before he could answer, a rock hit him in the chest. Everybody turned to see who threw the rock.

"SASUKE-KUN!!"

Sakura was relieved to see her crush.

_"CHA!! With Sasuke-kun here, these two don't stand a chance."_

Konohamaru looked at Sasuke and was not impressed.

_"He is not as cool as the boss. Naruto is awesome."_

Sasuke smirked as he looked down at the sand-nin. He was on his way to meet Kakashi when he saw what was going on. He was standing on the top of a building with another rock in his hand. He crushed the rock and poofed to Naruto's side.

"Not bad dobe, you can actually hold your own when I'm not around."

"Shut it teme, I do remember that I've saved your ass a couple of times"

Suddenly, they felt bloodlust radiating from behind them and turned to see another sand-nin. He had red hair and carried a huge gourd behind. He had a crazed look in his eyes and on his forehead was the kanji for Love. His gaze where fixed on the other two sand-nin who were looked frightened out of their wits.

"What do you think you are doing?", He asked in a dull monotone. "You were supposed to be at the hotel not picking fights with the locals."

"T-t-they s-s-started it, Gaara." Kankuro stammered.

Naruto leaned over and nudged Sasuke, Sasuke turned and they exchanged puzzled glances.

"You are a disgrace to our village, Kankuro.", Gaara said harshly. "Shut up before I kill you."

He appeared between the sand-nin and the leaf-nin via a sand shunshin. Naruto raised his eyebrows at this. Then Gaara addressed Team 7.

"I apologize for my brother's actions, he is quite headstrong but I assure nothing like this will happen again."

The three sand-nin turned to leave when suddenly Sasuke called out.

"I presume you are here for the Chuunin Exams. What is your name?"

Temari turned and gave Sasuke a flirtatious look.

"Who, me?"

"No, the red-haired one."

Gaara turned and stared at Sasuke and Naruto.

"I'm Sabaku no Gaara, these are my siblings Sabaku no Kankuro and Sabaku no Temari. What are your names?

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

"And I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Gaara nodded and turned but before he left he said;

"I look forward to seeing you at the Chuunin Exams."

A/N: Another chapter is done. Thanks for all your reviews. Hopefully I will update my other soon. Till next time R&R.

(1)Bunshin Daibakuha:Great Clone Explosion. This is an A-ranked technique that makes Shadow Clones explode.

(2)Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu:Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. This is another A-ranked technique capable of making shadow clones of shuriken. This jutsu has also been applied to other weapons such as kunai and senbon.


	6. Chapter 6:The First Exam

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech/Inner Sakura

No More

Chapter 5: The First Exam.

Naruto rubbed his eyes as the sun shone through his window. He pushed himself of his bed and trudged to the kitchen, yawning all the way. When he reached the door, he glanced at the calender and noticed the Uzumaki spiral he had drawn on a particular day. Then a smirk crossed his face.

"Its today...the Chuunin Exams. I wonder what the teme and Sakura are up to."

* * *

Sasuke panted as he rested from his morning routine. He had gotten up early so he could get in a little training. Then he got up and walked into his house, psyching himself up as he went.

_"Its today...I've waited for a chance like this for a long time. I will not back down."_

He entered his house and began his preparations for the exams.

"Hn, I wonder what the dobe and the fangirl are up to."

* * *

Sakura sighed as she packed her equipment for the Chuunin Exams. She still doubted if she was ready for the responsibility.

_"No, Sakura. Now is not the time for doubts...but I'm not strong enough..."_

**"SHANNARO! I leave you for a few days and you are on the verge of a breakdown?"**

Sakura sighed as she felt the return of her inner persona. It was a source of inspiration, and a source of embarrassment sometimes.

**"You know better than anyone else that strength alone does not guarantee victory. Now pull yourself together like a proud kunoichi and go show the world who Haruno Sakura is!"**

Encouraged, Sakura left her house and strode briskly towards the Academy.

_"Hmm...I wonder what Sasuke-kun and Naruto-baka are up to?"_

* * *

The atmosphere of the Academy was charged with tension and excitement. The feeling of something remarkable was in the air and it seemed to charge everything around it.

* * *

Team 7 met in front of the Academy, Sakura on foot, Naruto and Sasuke by shunshin. Without a word, they entered the Academy and headed for the third floor. When they reached the second floor, a strange sight met their eyes.

A huge number of genin were gathered in front of a door, trying to enter. When Team 7 drew near, they saw that there were two guards in front of the door and the sign on top of the door was 301.

_"Hn..what a pathetic attempt to fool an Uchiha"_

_"I'll bet Sasuke-kun saw through the genjutsu immediately."_

_"This is too easy, dattebayo."_

"Please let us through." pleaded a girl with brown hair tied in two buns on top of her head. She immediately reeled back from a punch thrown by one of the guards.

"Go home, little girl.", he said. "This is not for you."

"Come on. We need to enter quickly." said a boy in a green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers as he approached the door. He had black hair in a bowl-shaped haircut and thick eyebrows. He too was sent reeling with a punch from the other guard.

"We are doing you a favor, the Chuunin Exams are dangerous. Small fry like you should stick to the small stuff."

Sasuke immediately decided to make his presence felt, in classic emo-Uchiha style.

"You will let me in" he said as strode towards the door. "And while you're at it, get rid of the pathetic genjutsu."

Naruto quickly dispelled the genjutsu to reveal that the sign read 201.

"So you saw through it", said guard number 2.

"I'm sure our genjutsu specialist saw through it first, isn't that right Sakura?"

Sakura was ecstatic that her crush acknowledged her.

"Also", she put in, "We are on the second floor and the exam is on the third floor."

"So you think you're hot stuff, don't you?" said guard number 1.

He threw a kick at Sasuke and Sasuke retaliated with his own kick but, in a green blur, both kicks were stopped by the boy with the thick eyebrows.

"Lee, what are you doing?" said a boy wearing a blue Hyuuga style jacket and black shorts. He had long dark hair tied in a ponytail and the eyes of a Hyuuga. He was clearly Lee's teammate.

"Yeah, wasn't it your idea to hide our capabilities?" said the girl with the brown buns, definitely the last of the trio.

"Gomen, I guess I got carried away." Lee replied sheepishly. He turned to Sakura and and gave her the good-guy pose, complete with the blinding smile of his teeth.

"Hello, lovely young flower. What is your name?"

Sakura could barely hold back a shudder.

_"What's up with his eyebrows? THEY LOOK ALIVE!"_

Inner Sakura was sharpening a knife.

**"Cut them off! SHANNARO!"**

He walked up to her and got on one knee and held out one hand.

"My name is Rock Lee. Please go out with me, I'll protect you with my life."

"No way.", she replied with a dead pan look on her face.

The Hyuuga was staring at Sasuke intently, Sasuke didn't really like it.

"What is your name?" he asked

"It is polite to give your name before you ask for someone else's" Sasuke replied.

The Hyuuga continued to stare, then suddenly...

"BOO!", Naruto yelled as he suddenly appeared in the Hyuuga's face.

He was so surprised, he fell to the ground. His teammates were shocked as well.

_"Yosh, this boy's flames of youth must burn brightly if he managed to catch my eternal rival off guard so easily."_

_"If this boy is on the Uchiha's team, he must be the dead-last of their class...but he managed to surprise Neji, a Hyuuga."  
_

"Stop showing off, dobe." Sasuke said. "You're scaring the kids."

His mind, however, was singing a different tune.

_"So, he has taken his training seriously. Maybe...maybe..."_

Naruto grinned and stretched out a hand to Neji. Grudgingly, he accepted and pulled himself up. Neji turned to walk away, but before he left he turned and addressed Team 7.

"I hope to fight you in the exams, I will not be caught off guard so easily again."

Team 7 continued and were on the stairs leading to the third floor when...

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

They looked up and saw the boy in green on the balcony above. He jumped down to their level and stood in a fighting stance, his left hand behind him and his right hand held forward in a come-hither gesture.

"My name is Rock Lee. I challenge you to a fight right here, right now.", he declared

"Why?" Naruto asked. "Its almost time for the Chuunin Exams and I think..."

"Shut it dobe." Sasuke interrupted him. "This will be over in five minutes."

"Don't think it will be that easy. Currently, I'm the strongest genin in Konoha." Lee declared once more.

"Good." Sasuke replied. "Then you won't be a complete waste of time."

He activated his Sharingan and stood in his Intercepting Fist stance, waiting for Rock Lee to make his move. Rock Lee dashed forward at an incredible speed and swung a leg sweep at Sasuke. Sasuke jumped over it but Rock Lee quickly rose and threw a spinning kick.

"Konoha Senpuu!(1)"

Sasuke put up a guard but Rock Lee formed a half-tiger seal and his kick went through Sasuke's guard and connected with his chin. He crashed into a wall on the other side of the room. Rock Lee charged Sasuke again and began throwing a series of punches and kicks. Sasuke managed just barely to avoid them.

_"Dammit it! Kakashi told me about this. Speed is the natural weakness of Sharingan and this boy has it in spades. I wish i could take off..."_

Sasuke's thoughts were cut off by a kick to the gut and a punch to his chin. Rock Lee stood up and began to unwind the bandages on his hands. Sasuke got up as Rock lee began to speak.

"You understand, don't' you? If you can predict my moves but you are not fast enough, it is useless."

He disappeared and reappeared in a crouch right in front of Sasuke.

"Konoha Shofu!(2)"

From that position he drove a kick into Sasuke's chin, launching Sasuke into the air.

"Kage Buyo!(3)"

He followed Sasuke with a jump and reappeared right behind him. Sasuke turned his head to look at him, with three tomoes in one eye and two in the other. Lee pressed a nerve in Sasuke's back, immobilizing him.

"There are two types of geniuses in this world" Lee lectured. "The prodigies like you and the hard workers like me."

_"And me."_ Naruto thought.

"Now, I shall prove that with hard work, a dropout can beat a genius."

With a flick of his wrist, Rock Lee wrapped Sasuke in his bandages and prepared to end the fight. But before he could act, three kunai pierced his bandages and pinned them to the wall. Maneuvering in mid air, both boys landed on their feet.

"LEE!" a shout came from behind them. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Team 7 turned and saw what was an older version of Rock Lee with thicker eyebrows and a jounin vest. He walked over to Lee and began berating him.

"LEE, THAT TECHNIQUE IS FORBIDDEN FOR A REASON!"

He sent Rock Lee flying with a punch to his face. Rock Lee swiftly got up and knelt before his sensei.

''I'M SORRY SENSEI! I GOT CARRIED AWAY! AFTER THE CHUUNIN EXAMS I'LL RUN A THOUSAND LAPS AROUND KONOHA FOR MY LACK OF SELF-CONTROL!"

Team 7 sweatdropped at this remark. But Rock Lee was not done yet.

"AND IF I AM UNABLE TO DO THAT I SHALL DO FIVE THOUSAND PUSH-UPS ON ONE HAND!"

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT! IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THAT, I SHALL RUN FROM HERE TO SUNA WITH A BOULDER ON MY BACK!"

"SENSEI! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH SHINE BRIGHTLY!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

They hugged and suddenly a huge mirage of a sunset by the beach appeared behind them. To say Team 7 was freaked out was an understatement.

_"Okay, that is just...WRONG!_"

_"Is this some sort of genjutsu. I need to read more on this."_

_"I actually lost to this guy. He looks like a pansy hugging his sensei like that!"_

The spandex wearing duo got up, dispelling the sunset. The jounin faced Team 7 as Rock Lee picked his bandages . Naruto got a glimpse of his hands. They were heavily calloused, that spoke volumes of his intense training.

_"Maybe... they weren't exaggerating about their training..and he is strong...could I train like that? Push my body beyond its limits and more? If I could...I WILL BECOME HOKAGE!"_

Suddenly, Team 7 was looking into the visage of Maito Gai. He was smiling from ear to ear.

"So you must be Kakashi's genin team."

"You know Kakashi?" asked Sasuke.

"OF COURSE I DO!" Gai screamed. "HE IS MY ETERNAL RIVAL BUT WITH THE SCORE BEING 50-49 IN MY FAVOR I SHALL OVERCOME HIS HIP AND COOL ATTITUDE!"

"Calm down, Gai. It's too early for this." said a voice from behind Team 7.

Team 7 turned to see Kakashi walking towards them with his usual orange book in his hand.

"Ah,my eternal rival." proclaimed Gai. "What is today's challenge?"

"Hmm...I'm sorry Gai, did you say something?"

"CURSE YOUR HIP AND COOL ATTITUDE!"

Kakashi faced his squad and gave them an eye smile.

"You all came here of your own accord. I'm very proud of you. Now you can take the Chuunin exams. But you need to hurry, the exams start soon."

Kakashi and Gai disappeared via a shunshin as Rock Lee re-wrapped his bandages around his forearms.

"Sasuke", he said. "It is most likely that the strongest genin in Konoha is on my team, I entered this exam to face him and you are one of my targets. I wish you well in this exam."

In a burst of speed Lee disappeared and Sasuke began cursing under is breath. Naruto noticed Sasuke's foul attitude.

"Calm down, teme."

Sasuke rounded on him, his anger almost at its breaking point.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN CALM DOWN!" he yelled.

Naruto's face became serious as he adopted his casual stance with his hands behind his head.

"Did you see his hands? The scars on them show that he trains to the extreme. Probably more than we do."

Sasuke looked down at his clenched fists. Then he rose his head in his patented smirk.

"This Chuunin Exam is becoming interesting. Let's go."

They headed to room 301. When they entered, Team 7 submitted their applications and stood at the back of the room to check out the opposition. Sasuke's eyes fell on Team 9, specifically; Hyuuga Neji.

_"The strongest genin in Konoha, eh? Not for long while I'm.._OUCH!"

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by a flying tackle from Yamanaka Ino.

"Sasuke-kun", she crooned. "I missed you, did you miss me?"

Sakura, of course, was not pleased.

"INO-BUTA! Leave Sasuke-kun alone!"

"Troublesome, you guys are here too." said a lazy voice behind Ino.

Naruto chuckled as he Shikamaru and Chouji caught up with Ino. Then the setting was complete when Team 8 walked through the door.

"Well, well, well." Kiba said with a cocky air. "The whole gang is here. Never mind that, after this I will walk away with my Chuunin vest like nobody's business"

"You wish, mutt." said Sasuke as he extricated himself from Ino's clutches.

"You better watch out, Uchiha. I've been training and we won't lose this time, right Akamaru?"

His dog responded with a loud bark from his perch on Kiba's head.

Then Shikamaru noticed that someone was missing.

"Hey, where is Naruto?"

The rookies looked around and Hinata spotted him chatting with a tall white-haired genin wearing glasses and a Konoha headband. He was showing Naruto a deck of cards that seemed to excite Naruto for some reason. The other rookies soon joined them and Sakura began berating Naruto.

"BAKA!" she screamed. "Don't wander off like that, we don't..."

"Not now Sakura." Naruto interrupted. "I'm a little busy". He turned to the bespectacled genin and said, "Okay, show me Rock Lee."

The genin smiled and withdrew one of the cards charged it with chakra and handed it to Naruto. He took the card and read aloud.

"Rock Lee, age: fourteen, sensei: Maito Gai, teammates:Higuarashi Tenten and Hyuuga Neji"

At the mention of Neji's name, Hinata paled.

"He has completed 18 C-rank missions and 37 D-rank missions with his team. It says here that he has negligible ninjutsu and genjutsu but his taijutsu ranges from high chuunin to low jounin level. All in all, one very tough opponent."

Naruto handed back the card but before he could make another request, the white-haired genin turned to the other rookies.

"I was wondering when you guys were going to pipe down. If you haven't noticed, you have been drawing a lot of attention to yourselves."

The nine rookies scanned the crowd and saw ill-concealed looks of displeasure. Ever the perceptive one, Shikamaru faced the bespectacled genin.

"What is your name?"

"I am Yakushi Kabuto, genin of Konoha at your service." he replied.

"Yeah, yeah!", Naruto said excitedly. "He has these awesome cards that contains information about everyone here."

"Well, you could say that I'm a veteran at this."

"How many times have you taken the Chuunin Exams?" asked Chouji between munches.

"Seven times."

"So, basically, you suck." Kiba said, suppressing a laugh.

"Maybe...or maybe it is the tough opposition from the other hidden villages."

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

Kabuto removed another card and channeled chakra into it. A map depicting the shinobi continent with the various hidden villages participating in the exams appeared on it.

"The Chuunin Exams serves as more than just a chance to get promoted." he lectured. "They are an opportunity for a hidden village to show off its strength. So these genin here are, most likely, the best the hidden villages have to offer. I have a prime example right here."

He removed another card charged it with chakra and handed it to Naruto. He took it, read it and blinked, then he read aloud.

"Sabaku no Gaara, age: thirteen, teammates: Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro. Nothing is known about his skills but he has 11 C-rank missions and...1 B-rank under his belt. Also, he returned from all those missions without a scratch."

The rookies watched in stunned silence as Naruto handed the card back to Kabuto. He thought for a moment and addressed Kabuto.

"I have one more request. Show me Uzumaki Naruto."

_"What?" _was running through the minds of the rookies.

Kabuto picked up another card and infused it with his chakra. Then Naruto's info appeared. This time he read out the card's content himself.

"Uzumaki Naruto, age; thirteen, teammates; Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, sensei; Hatake Kakashi, no genjutsu but good ninjutsu and taijutsu. He has 15 D-rank missions and...wow...2 A-rank missions! And get this...one of the A-rank missions was accomplished before he became a genin!"

The genin reacted in the most predictable way possible...denial.

"Oh, come on!", groaned Kiba. "Your cards must have made a mistake."

"Yeah!", Ino put in. "Naruto was the dead-last of our graduating class."

"Are you sure you didn't mix up Naruto-baka's data with Sasuke-kun's data?" asked Sakura.

"Say all that you want." replied Kabuto. "I am confident in the accuracy of my information. And here is a little tidbit: don't worry about the sound genin. Their village is new so they should be the weakest genin here."

Unfortunately for Kabuto, the team from Sound overheard him.

"Did you hear that?" said their team leader, bandaged like a mummy with only one eye visible.

"Let's teach that tree-hugger a lesson" said the other male ninja, who had bandages wrapped around his arms.

The kunoichi merely smirked as her teammates charged Kabuto. Kabuto saw them coming and easily dodged the punch that the bandaged shinobi threw at him. But suddenly, he fell to his knees and lost his lunch to the floor. But before the sound shinobi could gloat, Kabuto poofed into smoke and Naruto appeared in front of them. Utilizing his Chakra Wave, he buried a punch in the guts of the sound shinobi They screamed as pain seemed to explode from where the punches had landed all over their bodies. They writhed on the floor in pain as silence fell over the Rookie Nine as they stared at Naruto who ignored them in favor of staring at the gathered assembly of shinobi.

"LISTEN UP ALL OF YOU!", he yelled. "MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO, FUTURE HOKAGE OF KONOHA! I WILL NOT LOSE TO ANY OF YOU!"

Then, in a poof of smoke, a scarred ninja in a trenchcoat appeared in front of the genin.

"Sit down maggots! No fighting before the exams begin."

As the genin scrambled to their assigned seats, two chunnin assistants walked and began sharing papers. Naruto's heart dropped to his stomach at the sight of this.

_"Oh no, not a written exam?"_

As the papers were being shared, man in the trenchcoat gave his name as Morino Ibiki and listed the rules.

"You have one hour to complete the test. Your team starts out with ten points at the beginning of the exam. If you are caught cheating, you will lose two points. If your points reduce to zero, you and your team will sent out of the room."

After the papers were shared and the first exam had started, Naruto knew he was in trouble.

_"I can't answer any of these questions but I feel like I'm missing something...In the academy, Iruka-sensei always threw out those caught cheating immediately. But this guy said...OF COURSE! They want us to cheat but not get caught. A test of information-gathering skills...I'm still in trouble. Ah well, at least I know what to do after this is all over."_

Scanning over the rest of the paper, he saw that the tenth question would be given five minutes to the end of the paper. So he began doodling to while away the time.

* * *

Jounin Lounge

* * *

"Chill out, Kurenai. There is no need to worry." said Asuma.

The jounin were waiting for the results of the first exam, Kurenai was pacing up and down in her anxiety.

"Actually, there is need to worry." remarked Kakashi, his nose stuck in his book. "The problem is it won't do you any good."

"YOSH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL SPEAKS THE TRUTH!", proclaimed Gai.

"Why is that?" Kurenai asked.

"We left our genin in Ibiki's charge." answered Gai.

"...and?", Kurenai asked expectantly.

"They are in a room with Morino Ibiki." replied Asuma.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kurenai asked again, exasperated.

"Oh, I keep on forgetting that you're a rookie. Ibiki is the head of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Unit." said Kakashi as he flipped a page. "He specializes in mind games and mental torture. He is able to extract info from almost anyone without touching them."

"Oh no!" Kurenai exclaimed, shock written on her face.

* * *

Exam Room

* * *

Ibiki smirked as another team of genin was caught cheating for the last time. He threw three kunai, each of them landed on the desk of the cheating genin.

"NUMBERS 39, 18 AND 4! YOU FAIL!"

Grumbling to themselves, the genin walk out of the hall. Ibiki checked his watch and smirked once more. It was time.

"ALL RIGHT MAGGOTS, PENS DOWN AND LISTEN UP! This is the final question and you must choose whether or not to take it."

"Why?" asked Temari, obviously puzzled.

"Because if you get it wrong, you will never be allowed to take the Chuunin Exams and remain a genin for the rest of your life."

"That is a load of shit!" exclaimed Kiba. "There are genin here who have taken the exam more than once."

"They didn't have me setting the rules back then." replied Ibiki, his smirk firmly in place. "You can give up now and try again later when you feel much more capable."

After a moment, a few genin left the classroom. Ibiki frowned a bit, he needed to get rid of a few more.

"This is your last chance, if you don't give up now you may remain a genin forever and maybe dash all your hopes and dreams just because..."

"SCREW YOU!" came a voice from the back of the class.

Ibiki turned to look in the direction of the voice. He saw Naruto standing, his hands clenched into fists.

"I have worked too damn hard to get to where I am to be bowled over by a question! So bring it like you never have before!"

"I warn you." Ibiki said. "If you fail, here you will remain a genin forever. Do you want that?"

"I say...SCREW YOU! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I FAIL OR NOT, MY DREAM WILL NEVER DIE! IF I DO FAIL, I WILL BECOME THE FIRST GENIN TURNED HOKAGE EVER AND THEN I WILL FIRE YOU FOR MAKING SUCH CRAPPY RULES!"

Ibiki sighed, the damage was done. The blond brat had encouraged everyone else into staying. It was time to end the charade.

"To those of you still here...congratulations on passing the First Exam."

* * *

A/N: I apologize for making you wait for this chapter. I've been quite busy and this chapter was quite hard to write. As usual, your comments and suggestion are welcome. R&R!

(1)Konoha Senpuu: Leaf Whirlwind: A powerful spinning kick.

(2)Konoha Shofu: Leaf Rising Wind: A handstand kick that propels the opponent into the air.

(3)Kage Buyo: Shadow of the Dancing Leaf: A move used in conjunction with the Leaf Rising Wind in which the user positions himself behind the opponent in midair, leaving the opponent in a vulnerable position.


	7. Chapter 7:A Snake In The Leaf

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech/Inner Sakura

No More

Chapter 6: A Snake In The Leaf.

Shock was clearly visible on the faces of the remaining genin. They had passed but they had no idea how. Ibiki couldn't help the smug smirk that crossed his face.

"H-h-how?", asked a stupefied Kiba.

But before Ibiki could answer, a huge black ball burst through the window. It unfurled in the center of the classroom revealing itself to be a banner, hanging of the ceiling by two kunai that were part of the package. Emblazoned on the black cloth was...

PROCTOR OF THE SECOND EXAM

THE SEXY, SINGLE AND AVAILABLE

MITARASHI ANKO

Then, with a huge explosion of smoke she appeared...and majority of the male genin and a few of the female genin fainted from a nosebleed.

Mitarashi Anko was a beautiful woman with purple hair dressed in a tan trenchcoat. Underneath that trenchcoat was a fishnet shirt that left little to the imagination and a mini-miniskirt. She also wore ANBU-issue bracers on her arms and legs but that was overlooked for much more obvious features..

"YOSH!", she yelled. "ALL THOSE WHO PASSED THE FIRST EXAM, GET READY FOR THE SECOND EXAM! FOLLOW ME!"

Silence...Utter silence followed her proclamation. The few genin who were conscious were looking at her as if she had grown a second head. All except one.

Naruto was waving a flag with a huge 10 on it. Seeing it, Anko smirked.

"Well, it looks like only one person here appreciates perfection."

"Or maybe he's the only other idiot here."

Anko scowled at Ibiki's statement. Then she turned to face the genin and took a head-count. She turned to Ibiki with a smirk on her face.

"Are you losing your touch, old man? This is by far the largest number of candidates that have passed the first exam."

"You can thank your fan for that."

Anko shrugged.

"Never mind that, I'll get rid of at least half of them in the exam."

She turned to address the remaining genin.

"The second exam will take place tomorrow. Get the venue from your jounin-senseis."

She disappeared in a plume of smoke.

* * *

Dusk

* * *

Ibiki was collecting the test sheets of the chuunin hopefuls who had passed the First Exam.

_"Too many passed this stage...this is unprecedented...WTF!"_

He had just picked Naruto's paper. Apart from the 10 written behind it, it was blank...he had not answered a single question. A huge bellow of laughter escaped Ibiki's lips.

"Something else for the record books, eh? Passing a written exam without answering a single question."

Ibiki's smile remained as he remembered Naruto's words.

_"I say...SCREW YOU! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I FAIL OR NOT, MY DREAM WILL NEVER DIE!"_

"Uzumaki Naruto...you interest me a lot."

* * *

Undisclosed Location

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama."

The traitorous snake summoner turned as his favorite spy addressed him. His pale face, framed with black hair and a hitai-ite with a musical note on it, looked even paler in the moonlight. With yellow irises and a black slit pupil, he looked more like a snake than a human being. The eerie look was completed with a black body suit under a sleeveless white tunic and tied at the waist with a purple rope done in a bow.

"What news do you have for me, Kabuto."

The bespectacled ninja straightened his glasses before proceeding.

"I have established contact with the target's team. So far they seem to trust me. During the Second Exam, I will continue my mission."

"Excellent, Kabuto. You're dismissed."

Kabuto bowed and disappeared in a plume of smoke.

Orochimaru licked his lips with a long snake-like tongue.

_"One step for me...and one giant leap for my ambitions..._kukukuku."

* * *

The Next Day

* * *

The remaining genin gathered in front of the infamous Training Ground 44 aka the Forest of Death. They admired the beautiful trees that swayed in the wind but the foliage was so thick they couldn't see beyond the trees.

"Listen up, brats!" yelled Anko. "This is were the second part of the Chuunin Exam will take place. The Forest of Death, the most dangerous training ground in all Konoha. Your purpose is to engage in an all out battle for this."

She pulled out two scrolls, one white and the other blue. The white scroll was marked with the kanji for Heaven, the blue one was marked with the kanji for earth.

"Half of you will be given the Heaven Scroll, the other half will be given the earth scroll. You are to search and retrieve from other teams the other scroll you need and bring both scrolls intact to the tower in the middle of the forest."

She licked her lips and continued.

"But in this forest, there are monsters so vicious jounin do try entering here, so do me a favor and..."

She caught sight of Naruto yawning widely as he dug through his weapons pouch. She steamed...literally...then Naruto rose his head.

"Hurry it up already, I've got a bowl of ramen with my name on it waiting for me, dattebayo"

Sakura palmed her face as Sasuke shook his head.

_"Naruto no baka. You will get in trouble for this."_

_"Usurakontachi."_

The rest of Rookie Nine had similar thoughts.

_"Look at that dobe trying to be top dog."_

_"Your actions are most illogical, Naruto."_

_"N-N-Naruto-kun..be careful."_

_"Ugh, that idiot shouldn't be on Sasuke-kun's team...that should be me."_

_"Mendokuse."_

_"I'm hungry."_

Anko was formulating a plan for revenge._  
_

_"You're ballsy kid, try this on for size."_

Suddenly a kunai grazed Naruto's cheek, leaving a shallow cut. Then Anko was behind him with a kunai to his neck.

"Yes, it's always the cocky ones who die first, spilling that red blood I love so much." Anko said as she brought her tongue to his cheek.

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Lady, let go off me or I've got two words for you."

Anko paused, her tongue just a few centimeters from his cheek.

"Really, what would those two words be? Free dango?"

Naruto formed the tiger seal.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!"(1)

Anko gasped and jumped away. In her haste, she landed clumsily and fell to the floor, curling herself into a ball to minimize any damage she might receive...then it struck her.

_"Wait a minute, where is the explosion?...I got fooled by a GENIN!"_

"Yep, its always the cocky ones who die first. Isn't that right Anko-san?" _  
_

Grumbling, she rose to her feet amidst snickers from the genin and growled at the shit eating smirk on Naruto's face. Then she whirled around with a kunai ready to see a long tongue returning her kunai. She followed it to see a Kusa kunoichi on the other end of the tongue.

"Looks like we have a talented bunch of genin. Lets see how well you do in the forest."

She began handing out release forms, all the while shooting dark looks at Naruto who was having a conversation with...himself?

_"That's right, he knows Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(2)...he might probably know Bunshin Daibakuha. I'll keep my on you...Uzumaki Naruto."_

Naruto nodded and his clone disappeared in a shunshin._  
_

* * *

Jounin Training Grounds_

* * *

_Kakashi quickly backpedaled to dodge Gai's punch and ducked under his roundhouse kick. He quickly rose and grabbed Gai's arm. Pivoting sharply, Kakashi brought Gai down with a shoulder throw. Then an alarm went off.

"Time's up." said Asuma, perching in the foliage of a nearby tree.

Panting, Kakashi and Gai joined Kurenai in the shade of the same tree. Kurenai was in a meditative pose, trying out one of her new genjutsus. Suddenly she shuddered and the other jounin noticed.

"What's wrong?" asked Asuma.

"Anko is pissed."

The other jounin shuddered too. A pissed Anko was much more scary than five back-to-back S-Rank missions.

"Who do you think pissed her off?" inquired Asuma

"I've got fifty ryo that says its Naruto." Kakashi drawled in a lazy voice.

The other jounin exchanged looks.

"You're on." chorused Asuma and Kurenai.

"YOSH, MY ETERNAL RIVAL! I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE! IF I LOSE THIS BET I WILL SCALE THE HOKAGE MOUNTAIN WITH ONE HAND! AND IF I CAN NOT DO THAT I WILL DEFEAT A HUNDRED MISSING-NINS WITH MY EYES CLOSED!"

"Hmm...Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

"CURSE YOUR HIP AND COOL ATTITUDE!"

* * *

The Forest Of Death

* * *

After signing the release forms, Team 7 collected a Heaven Scroll and headed to their assigned gate. At the signal, they burst through the gate and quickly jumped into the forest. After five minutes of running, Sasuke called for a stop.

"Okay, first off, how do we get the scrolls?"

"We could head for the tower immediately." suggested Sakura. "Ambushing a team exhausted from battle shouldn't prove too difficult."

"That's a good idea." remarked Naruto. "But the problem is that other teams would have though of that too. Stealth has never been our strong suit, -ttebayo...well yours at least."

"What do you suggest?" asked Sasuke.

"PSST!"

Team 7 turned in the direction of the voice. They saw Naruto sprinting towards. Sasuke and Sakura fell into battle stances.

"Whoa, calm down!" called Naruto. "It's a shadow clone."

"Here you go boss." gasped the clone. "It wasn't that hard."

The clone handed a Heaven and an Earth Scroll to Naruto and dispelled. Sasuke and Sakura were shocked beyond words.

"I figured they would keep spares just in case the were more teams than usual. It was a piece of cake for my clone to form another clone, have it transform into a wild cat and distract the guard long enough for him to grab us two scrolls and, guess what?"

Naruto bit his thumb and started drawing marks on the back of this hand. When he was done, he placed the scrolls on the markings and channeled chakra into the marks.

"FUIN!"(3)

The scrolls disappeared and Naruto displayed the back of his hand to his team. The kanji for "Seal" was on the back of his hand.

"Any questions?"

Sasuke and Sakura were too busy picking their jaws of the floor to answer. Naruto sighed.

"We've got to get moving. We might reach the tower quickly and finish this exam first"

Sakura recovered first.

"We might still be attacked by other teams just for the fun of it."

Before Naruto could reply, a gust of wind suddenly sprung up blowing Sakura into Sasuke and threw Naruto out of the clearing.

* * *

Team 8 were sprinting through the forest with Kiba and Akamaru leading, Shino and Hinata at the rear. Kiba was in high spirits due to the fact that they had just ambushed a team and gotten the scroll they needed with minimal effort.

_"Yep, my Chuunin vest is in the bag already."_

Then he picked up a strange scent, one tainted with foul chakra and blood. Kiba began whining and dove into Kiba's jacket, causing Kiba considerable worry.

"What is it, boy?"

The white-haired dog whined and barked softly.

"W-w-what is it?"

"Akamaru is smelling a powerful shinobi directly in front of us. Lets check it out."

Shino adjusted his sunglasses.

"That is illogical. The next phase is bound to be one where individual fights take place, if we head to the tower we will be fresh when the second phase is over."

"True, but we can scout opponents for weaknesses we can take advantage of in the next phase. Besides what could go wrong."

They landed behind a bush that separated them from the unknown ninja. Peeking through they saw the Suna ninjas facing a team from Ame.

What happened next was a nightmare engraved in the memories of Team 8 for a long time.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura picked themselves up and looked around. They heard trampling in the forest and turned to see Naruto coming towards.

"Ouch, that hurt.. Are you okay?"

Sasuke drew a kunai and hurled it at Naruto who barely managed to dodge. Sakura was shocked.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?"

Sasuke threw a brace of shuriken at Naruto's legs and followed it up with a quick kunai when he jumped into the air. Suddenly Naruto contorted himself in a very snake-like manner to dodge the kunai. Sasuke smirked at that.

"I know Naruto heals quickly, but not that quickly. The cut on his cheek is gone and so is the seal on the back of his hand. And there is no way that Naruto could ever manage the dodge you just displayed."

Sakura immediately drew a kunai after realization slapped her. (couldn't resist that one)

An uncharacteristic smirk that was almost serpentine formed on Naruto's face. Then, with a long tongue, he licked his lips and poofed into smoke to reveal the kunoichi from Kusa.

"Impressive...but let's see how you fair now."

She reached to her forehead and revealed a yellow eye with a black slit pupil. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the sight.

_"A mask...what is it..."_

Suddenly he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe...he couldn't think as he was paralyzed with a blast of the most gruesome killing intent he had ever felt._  
_

* * *

Naruto groaned as he picked himself of the ground. He had slammed into quite a few trees before the wind died down and he was bruised all over. The bruises were quickly disappearing anyways.

_"Thanks for nothing, you blasted fox."_

**"You're welcome."**

"Aack! What was that?"

**"Me."**

"You, who?"

**"The greatest of all the nine bijuu, the Harbinger of Destruction, the Lord of Chaos, the Master of Disaster...the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"**

"...That was so lame."

**"COCKY LITTLE APE! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE A BUG AND MAKE YOU MY LUNCH!"**

"Yeah, and pigs can fly. Face it, you got your ass kicked by a human."

Distracted by his tenant, Naruto never realized the huge snake creeping up till it was too late. It snared him in its coils, squeezing him tightly. Then it quickly opened its jaws and swallowed Naruto whole...for like five seconds.

A huge explosion ripped the snake open expelling its guts and bodily fluids which disappeared in a puff of smoke...leaving Naruto on all fours, panting.

_"Bunshin Daibakuha, success. Now, you blasted fox, don't distract me in a combat zone."_

**"...Try and stop me."**

Naruto sighed, picked himself up and went to find his team.

* * *

Sakura gasped as she saw Sasuke fall from a punch to the gut. It had taken a stab to his thigh to break the hold of the killing intent and save her from the kunai and leave her behind the tree. Sasuke then tried to take on the grass kunoichi but it was obvious he was no match for her. Then she gasped

Sasuke smirked as best as he could with a wire in his mouth. Finally, he had the kunoichi where he wanted her. After feigning weakness, he had slipped an exploding tag into her pouch. After it exploded he quickly unleashed a barrage of shuriken with wires attached. Binding the grass-nin to the tree and anchoring the wires save the one in his mouth was a piece of cake and now it was time to end this.

Quickly forming seals, he unleashed his most powerful technique.

"KATON: RYUUKA NO JUTSU!"(4)

A fire dragon traveled down the ninja wires and collided with the strange kunoichi. She cried out in a piercing scream as the flames consumed her. Running low on chakra, Sasuke dispelled the technique. Sakura landed on the branch beside Sasuke bursting with excitement.

"KYA! SASUKE-KUN YOU ARE THE GREATEST!"

Then a low chuckle that was distinctively male emerged from the smoke. When the smoke cleared, the kunoichi from grass was there unharmed. Her clothes weren't singed in the slightest. But the mask she was wearing had melted enough, allowing the yellow eye to see clearly.

"Kukuku...Sasuke-kun, you have impressed me a lot. I think its time to know your opponent.

He pulled of his mask and headband to reveal a pale sallow face with snake-like eyes and a headband with a musical note on it.

"I am Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin(5)...and you are mine for all eternity."

* * *

Naruto gasped as he heard Orochimaru proclamation from his hiding place. It had taken a lot of willpower not to go charging in like he usually did...and he was glad he didn't.

_"Konoha's greatest traitor is here...looks like he wont leave without a fight."_

He created a shadow clone and handed it some shuriken and a kunai, then he left to prepare a trap for the legendary ninja.

* * *

"Now, its time to give you a gift."

Forming a ram seal, Orochimaru blasted the genin with an intense blast of KI. Then he slowly walked towards Sasuke, relishing the moment he would brand the Uchiha as his own. Suddenly, some shuriken and kunai flew at him. Cursing, he dodged and lost control of his KI, allowing Sasuke and Sakura momentary respite.

"Oi, teme. Didn't think you'd need my help but that's what I get for thinking you can do anything without me."

Sasuke and Sakura couldn't help sighing, only Naruto could make such a statement in such a dangerous situation. Naruto turned his gaze to the snake-nin.

"Well, it looks like there is a reason, can I ask why you are here, Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru licked his lips as he turned his gaze from the jinchuuriki to the last Uchiha and back.

_"This little brat can't stop my ambition. No one can."_

"Simple, I'm here for your teammate and his precious eyes. If you stand in my way...you will die."

Naruto lowered his head and was shivering. Orochimaru smirked.

_"Yesss, cower in fear like the..."_

Suddenly, a barrage of kunai flew towards Orochimaru. Dodging them, he jumped further along the branch. Then a shadow clone tackled him from behind and exploded. But mud instead of blood was splattered. Naruto shunshin'd to Orochimaru's previous location and tried to sense him.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed. "BEHIND YOU!"

Naruto turned and frantically jumped backwards to avoid a punch. Orochimaru tried to press his advantage but a puff of smoke obscured his vision and he was tackled by another clone who immediately exploded. Once more mud fell instead of blood. Orochimaru perched on a branch pondered the situation before realizing what happened.

_"Those shuriken and kunai he threw at me must have Shadow Clones under a transformation...but how is that possible? All the same...he first used them to separate me from my goal and subsequently used them to throw me off. A good plan for fighting someone who is stronger than you...interesting"_

He smirked and charged at Naruto again who also had a smirk on his face.

_

* * *

_

A/N: As always, R&R.

* * *

(1) Bunshin Daibakuha: Great Clone Explosion.

(2) Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shadow Clone Technique.

(3) Fuin: Seal.

(4)Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu: Fire Release: Fire Dragon Technique: This technique is usually used when the target is bound and can't escape. A fire dragon is produced that travels down the bindings, incinerating the target.

(5) Densetsu no Sannin: The Three Legendary Ninjas: A title bestowed on three ninjas of the leaf by Hanzo of Amegakure. They are Jiraiya; the toad summoner, Senju Tsunade; the slug summoner and Orochimaru; the snake summoner.


	8. Chapter 8: Power?

"_Why is ramen so delicious?"_- thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/You little brat**-Demon speech/Inner Sakura

No More

Chapter 7: Power?

Outside the Forest of Death

* * *

Anko was happily munching on her last stick of dango when a chuunin attendant appeared in front of her.

"Anko-taichou."

"Hmm.." her mouth was full of dango.

"We've found something you need to look at. Bodies of a genin team."

Anko's face became serious immediately. She swallowed her mouthful of dango and quickly rose to her feet.

"Let's go."

* * *

The Tower

* * *

"Hah, I bet we are the first ones here."

"That would be presumptuous"

"...What does that even mean? Can't you speak plainly?"

"I speak plainly, you just don't understand me."

"P-p-p-please, s-s-stop fighting."

Team 8 had just completed the second phase of the Chuunin Exams. They had just met Kurenai who directed them to sleeping quarters.

Suddenly Akamaru began whining, halting them in their tracks. Then the Sand Genin walked into view. They exchanged a long, hard stare with Team 8 before moving on to their quarters. After they left, Kiba sighed.

"I hope I never have to face the redhead."

Shino merely adjusted his shades.

* * *

The Forest Of Death

* * *

Orochimaru smirked as Naruto charged him. He threw a kunai at Naruto as he too charged the blond shinobi. Naruto deflected it with one of his own and returned the favor. Orochimaru caught it and disappeared. As soon as he appeared behind Naruto, he was peppered with a myriad of weapons. He fell apart in a puddle of mud and Naruto cursed.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!(1)"

In a puff of smoke, a brown snake appeared, jaws wide open ready to devour the orange-clad shinobi.

Naruto smirked.

In a flurry of leaves a clone appeared in the jaws of the snake. Immediately the snake clamped down and Naruto formed a half-ram seal.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!(2)."

BOOM!

The snake's head was ripped into mincemeat by the force of the explosion. When the smoke cleared, Orochimaru was visible with singed clothing and a murderous look on his face.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Sasuke was wondering why Orochimaru was so angry till a memory struck him.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

Sasuke panted as he dodged another swipe of the snake's tail. Taking to the tree branches had done nothing to hinder the snake's speed. He cursed and leaped of the branch just before the snake's jaws snapped it like a matchstick. Twisting in midair, he unleashed two kunai, nailing the snake in eyes with precise timing and accuracy.

The snake flopped around a bit before its head fell on a branch when it died. Suddenly cracks began developing on the snake's head. A hand pushed its way out followed by the rest of the Kusa-nin.

* * *

_"He must have used that technique again and Naruto's explosion burnt him. But he is still strong...and now he is angry."_

Angry was an understatement, Orochimaru was mightily pissed_._

"The gloves are off, kid. Lets see you match up to one of the Densetsu no Sannin."

He quickly flipped through a series of handseals.

"Senei'jashu(3)."

A large amount of green snakes with brown spots flew out of Orochimaru's sleeves, charging for Naruto. Naruto leaped back as he took out a shuriken and bit on it. Flipping through his own seals, he spat the shuriken at the swarm of snakes.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(4)."

The shuriken multiplied into many and ripped through the snakes. Orochimaru, however, was already countering the jutsu.

"Fuuton: Diatoppa!(5)."

He blew a gust of wind at the projectiles, sending them back towards Naruto. He was out of there with a quick Kawarimi(6).

Naruto breathed in deeply from his position, everything was going as planned.

_"Now I just need to bait him into a taijutsu attack. With one blow of my Chakra Wave, I can turn the tables on even him. And where the heck are those darn ANBU?"_

Naruto sneaked a glance at the rogue-nin, who currently had a smirk on his face.

_"Oh, I'm going to wipe that smirk of your face right now. How do you like this now?"_

With his mental link he took a quick headcount of the clones he had left. He then placed his hand in a ram seal and began to tap into his chakra reserves.

Orochimaru frowned as he felt the chakra spike, any sensor ANBU would have felt that.

"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!(7)"

* * *

Anko's eyes narrowed as she saw the huge plume of smoke in the distance. She immediately set off in its direction, running as fast she could.

_"Why are you here? Why have you come back after all these years?"_

She shook the thoughts out of her mind and steeled herself for the upcoming confrontation.

* * *

Orochimaru gasped as he saw the huge number of clones surrounding him.

_"Impossible, how can this brat create so many Shadow Clones and still remain conscious. The chakra consumption should have..."_

He then took notice of Naruto's whiskered cheeks.

_"Of course, the container of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox..."_

Orochimaru braced himself as three of the Shadow Clones, wielding Fuuma Shuriken leaped at him. They threw the shuriken at Orochimaru who smoothly dodged them without leaving his position. In puffs of smoke, they revealed themselves to be clones. Maneuvering in mid-air, they flung a brace of kunai at Orochimaru, forcing him to leap to higher ground. Then five Shadow Clones leaped at Orochimaru, with their fists cocked back. Orochimaru leaped up, leaving the Shadow Clones to crash into each other. But as soon as he leaped up, five more fell from the foliage above him. Orochimaru's cheeks bulged and he spat out a long snake-like tongue. He wrapped a Shadow Clone with it and pummeled the rest with it. They dispelled in puffs of smoke.

"Suiton: Mizu Shuriken!(8)"

Orochimaru cursed as he dodged the water projectiles.

_"I didn't expect them to have enough chakra to perform jutsus. That blasted demon fox must be replenishing his chakra as we speak. I need to end this quickly."_

Orochimaru sprinted up the tree as another barrage of water shuriken flew towards his location. A few handseals later, he melted into the tree.

* * *

Naruto clenched his fists in frustration as he saw the snake-nin disappear into the tree.

_"He actually moves like a snake, making it almost impossible to hit him. I'm not sure that close range is such a good option."_

"Oyabun."

Naruto turned to face the clone.

"The basins of water are in place."

"Good, keep up the attack. Have a few clones flare their chakra randomly. That should make the bastard sweat and give the ANBU a greater chance of finding us."

"Yosh." Naruto and his clone disappeared in swirl of leaves.

* * *

Sasuke clenched his fists in anger.

_"How...how...how is Naruto managing to keep up with him? How strong is he? Is he...stronger than me?"_

Sasuke closed his eyes as he clenched his jaws. When his jaw line relaxed, his eyes opened to reveal his almost mature Sharingan.

_"I must prove that I am worthy of the name Uchiha...and worthy of the role I must play in Itachi's demise...or die trying."_

He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Orochimaru was running through handseals for his next jutsu.

_'Thanks for the water, boy.Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu(9)!"_

Naruto gasped as the water he painstakingly gathered was hijacked, turned into a giant dragon made of water. and used to decimate his clones.

_"Kuso, I walked right into that one...but that is one cool jutsu."_

He quickly vacated his position before the water dragon crushed him.

Orochimaru smirked as he saw Naruto trying to escape the water dragon. Then caught sight of his prey zoning in on his position.

_"Ah yes. The Uchiha pride is strong in this one."_

He released the water dragon and sped towards Sasuke, who was flipping through seals for his next jutsu.

* * *

Naruto angrily palmed his face as he watched his teammate charge a ninja he stood no chance of defeating. He signaled the clones left to charge Orochimaru and get Sasuke out of harm's way.

_"Honestly, now is not the time to lead with your ego, bastard. And those ANBU better have a good reason for why they are so late."_

_

* * *

_

Sasuke was about to unleash his jutsu when his Sharingan detected a chakra pattern that looked like familiar.

_"It's reminds me of a Ka.."_

His thoughts were cut off when he suddenly found himself behind Orochimaru and a Naruto clone charging the Sannin in his former position with back up from a few more clones.

_"This is it! _Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!(10)"

He blew a blazing fireball at Orochimaru's back but the missing-nin suddenly jumped of the branch.

BOOM!

A huge explosion rocked the branch, dispelling the clones and throwing Sasuke off-balance. Naruto sighed in exasperation.

_"Great. He left an exploding tag behind and allowed Sasuke's jutsu to ignite it and get rid of my clones. How do you beat a ninja who is ten steps ahead of you?"_

Suddenly snakes burst out off the foliage and wrapped themselves around Naruto. Unable to stand, Naruto fell of the branch and was quickly caught by Orochimaru.

"My, my." he said with a serpentine hiss. "I was led to believe that the Uchiha was the only talent on this team. Too bad...I came prepared to seal only one."

He held out his hand and his fingertips lit up with a purple fire.

"This will stop you from interfering with my plan."

Then, Naruto smirked.

"Its going to take much more than these snakes and burning fingers to stop me."

Suddenly, a kunai shot out of Naruto's stomach and right through Orochimaru's head. Sasuke followed its path and saw it pass through an adjacent tree trunk as if it wasn't there. He also noticed the weird chakra that surrounded it.

The Naruto wrapped in the snake restraints disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto appeared in a shunshin, standing over Orochimaru's corpse and breathing hard.

"That's right, never underestimate Uzumaki Naruto. Dattebayo."

This was his ace in the hole. After many shadow clone hours, he had finally managed to imbue his kunai and shuriken with wind chakra. However, it took a lengthy amount of time to do so, hence the need for extending the battle.

_"Note: when fighting stronger opponents, hit and run tactics work wonders."_

When he turned to leave, he saw a terrified yet relieved Sakura and a scowling Sasuke.

_"Yes, now let's get out of..."_

Naruto was cut off by the long tongue that wrapped around him and slammed him into a tree. It lifted him and turned him around to face...Orochimaru. Naruto gasped in shock.

"H-h-how?"

Orochimaru merely slammed him into another tree trunk and tied him to it with another batch of snakes.

"Ingenious plan, Naruto-kun. But it was defeated by the log."

Orochimaru gestured to where his corpse should have been, revealing a log with a hole in it.

"I must admit that I've enjoyed this little spar but this is where this ends."

His fingertips lit up with purple fire again and he thrust his hand at Naruto's abdomen.

"GOGYO FUIN!(11)"

Before his hand reached Naruto, Orochimaru suddenly was propelled through the air by a punch from behind. He hit a tree and burst in a clump of mud.

The real Orochimaru emerged from his hiding place to see a clone of Naruto standing over the original staring at his fist in wonder.

"So, you're going down fighting, aren't' you?" His thoughts were a different issue all together.

_"How did his clone catch mine off-guard so easily?"_

The clone stared at his fist for a few more moments before it noticed him. It closed its eyes in deep concentration and Orochimaru frowned as he felt its chakra levels spike abnormally.

But suddenly, the clone's skin began turning green and the clone screamed as if in extreme pain before dispelling.

A moment later, Naruto began writhing and screaming as well.

* * *

Naruto's mindscape

* * *

In the dank sewer that was Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi sensed what the clone had done...and knew what was about to follow.

**"I SHALL NOT DIE!"**

His eye glowed an ominous red as he bared his enormous fangs.

* * *

Forest of Death

* * *

Anko landed on a branch not far from where Orochimaru was and saw Naruto wrapped in snakes and screaming in pain. She gritted her teeth in rage.

_"You sick bastard! What are you doing?"_

Then she felt it, a sliver of the most gruesome killing intent to ever walk the world of shinobi. Her eyes turned to Naruto who was no longer screaming in pain but in rage. A sheen of orange-red chakra burst out of him, dispelling the snakes that bound him and healing the bruises Orochimaru inflicted on him in seconds. He pushed himself up with hands that possessed claws instead of fingernails. He snarled at Orochimaru with canines that resembled fangs. His eyes were no longer the determined hue of cerulean blue. They were a malevolent shade of blood-red with a slit pupil.

Anko gasped as he disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared in front of her former sensei, claws ready to eviscerate the missing ninja.

_"Are you after the power of the Kyuubi? Or has your eye caught something else?"_

* * *

Orochimaru couldn't help the shiver when he saw firsthand what the demon's chakra was capable of.

_"Ah...such power. Unfortunately, I can't afford to play with you Naruto-kun. Forces far stronger than me want you."_

As soon as Naruto disappeared and reappeared, he lashed out with a roundhouse kick.

* * *

Sasuke stood frozen at the sheer chakra and killing intent Naruto was emitting. Sakura had passed out even before Naruto stood up. As Sasuke was frozen in fear of the power his goofy teammate possessed, a seed of jealousy began to grow in his heart.

_"How can Naruto possess such power? He doesn't deserve it! I need this sort of power! I would do ANYTHING to gain such power!"_

_

* * *

_

A/N: Sorry this update took so long, internet availability is always iffy for me.

For those of you who read "The Way of The Pervert", I'm sorry to tell you its on hiatus due to lack of inspiration for its writing and a new idea for a story. If anyone wishes to adopt it, PM me.

As usual, R&R.

(1)Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Summoning Technique: A C-Rank time/space technique that allows the user to call upon an animal or group/clan of animals he/she has signed a contract with. This technique is used to request aid in battle, message delivery or other purposes.

(2)Bunshin Daibakuha: Great Clone Explosion

(3)Senei'jashu: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands: A technique used only by wielders of the snake contract. It allows them to summon snakes out of their sleeves, usually for binding their enemies.

(4)Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique

(5)Fuuton: Diatoppa: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough: A C-Rank technique native to Suna. It allows the user to shoot a gust of wind at his/her opponent. Its power depends on the chakra put into the technique.

(6)Kawarimi no Jutsu: Replacement Technique

(7)Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Mass Shadow Clone Technique: An advanced Shadow Clone technique that uses more chakra and produces more clones.

(8)Suiton: Mizu Shuriken: Water Release: Water Shuriken: A C-Rank technique native to Kiri. It allows the user to form throwing stars out of water and shoot them at his/her opponent.

(9)Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Technique: An A-Rank technique native to Kiri. It enables the user to shoot a dragon of water at an opponent. Size and speed of the dragon depend on the water available and the chakra infused into the technique.

(10)Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu: Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique: The signature technique of Konoha and the Uchiha clan. It is a C-Rank technique that enables the user to shoot a fireball out of his/her mouth. Size and intensity of the fireball depends mainly of the chakra used in the technique.

(11)Gogyo Fuin: Five Elements Seal: An advanced sealing technique developed mainly for use on jinchuuriki. It tightens the seal that binds the demon to the host but if it is matched up against an even numbered seal, it messes with the host's chakra control.


	9. Chapter 9:Demon Within

_"Why is ramen so delicious?"_-thinking

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- jutsu

**YOU LITTLE BRAT/you little brat-** demon speech/Inner Sakura

No More

Chapter Nine: Demon Within

Gaara sat on the roof of the tower in the center of the Forest of Death. His eyes were closed and his breathing even. He relished moments like these...moments when the Ichibi no Shukaku would leave him be. Moments like these when he could forget about his daily struggle to prove his existence. Moments like these when he could forget about that painful night that changed his life forever.

Then he felt it.

That familiar surge of unbridled power and unmatched rage...but it wasn't coming from within.

It came from the forest.

A dark smile crossed his lips.

_"The ultimate validation of my existence."_

* * *

Undisclosed Location

* * *

The robed figure slammed into a nearby rock. He groaned in pain and spat out blood. He looked up into the face of the ninja who had taken him down so easily.

"So, are you prepared to talk yet?"

He spat at his tormentor's face.

Jiraiya of the Sannin easily avoided the wad of spittle.

"Hey, don't be like that, I just wanted to talk remember. You got all aggressive with me."

He turned a sad face towards the waterfall behind him.

"You even scared all the pretty ladies away."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed and he disappeared only to reappear in front of the robed ninja who was trying to run away. The robed ninja was sent flying with a flick of Jiraiya's hand into the same rock he had slammed into moments before.

"Now, you were saying something about Orochimaru…"

The anonymous figure spat out blood and muttered something incoherent.

"Oh do hurry up. The sun is still up, that means that there are still some spas and bath houses to visit…"

A perverted chuckle escaped his lips.

* * *

Mizu no Kuni

* * *

"Bartender, hit me."

Tsunade slammed down her sake dish and grabbed the next one. Shizune stood nearby, holding Tonton with a worried look on her face.

"Tsunade-sama, we have to leave soon. The debt collectors will be here any second."

Tsunade downed another shot of sake.

"Nonsense Shizune, there is always time for a sake break. Bartender...get me two more bottles."

Shizune almost fainted at that request.

"Tsunade-sama! We must leave immediately or there might be another incident like the time in Kumo..."

"Oi, blondie in the green jacket."

Tsunade turned to see a group of scarred thugs holding all sorts of weapons. She took another drink of sake.

"You owe our bosses a lot of money. Either pay up or we will have to mess up you and your little friend."

Tsunade took another shot of sake, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Is that so?"

Shizune sighed; this was going to be another one of those days.

* * *

Konoha – Hokage's Office

* * *

Sarutobi sighed as he tried to defeat a Hokage's most evil enemy; paperwork. It seemed like it would never end. Sometimes, he wished it was him who had summoned the Death God. Using Shadow Clones was a good idea, but nowadays it seemed all the clans had ganged up to make his life miserable, knowing that he couldn't leave such matters in the hands of a clone. Suddenly, a toad appeared on his desk, holding a scroll in its webbed hands. The Hokage quickly took the scroll and read it, his expression darkening as he read it. He rolled the scroll up and put it in his desk.

"Tell Jiraiya to return as quickly as possible."

The toad disappeared in puff of smoke and Sarutobi looked out the window and lit his pipe.

"_Orochimaru...what are you up to?"_

A shiver traveled down his spine, deepening his unease. The last time he had felt that shiver was when Naruto was in Wave...

"_Naruto-kun...are you in danger again?"_

* * *

The Forest of Death

* * *

Orochimaru's roundhouse kick hit nothing but air. He quickly ducked under a swipe that intended to eviscerate and lashed out with a mule kick. It connected and sent Naruto flying into a tree trunk. He turned to see Naruto collide with the tree trunk but Naruto had barely touched the tree trunk before he disappeared once more. Orochimaru followed the trail of orange chakra he left in his wake and narrowly avoided another eviscerating swipe. Naruto allowed the swipe to dig into the branch and threw himself at Orochimaru, feet first. The snake-nin ducked once more only to have to avoid an underhand swipe that cut off a few strands of his hair. Orochimaru disappeared and reappeared on another tree branch, flipping through handseals.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu! (1)"

Naruto glared at the fire projectiles Orochimaru shot at him and roared at them. A wave of Kyuubi's malicious chakra shot out of his mouth and snuffed out the fireballs, but Orochimaru had already engaged another jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (2)"

Naruto snarled at Orochimaru and the huge brown snake he had summoned. He immediately charged at them, running with both his hands and legs.

* * *

Anko silently gulped as she watched the battle. The might of two of Konoha's most hated figures locked in battle against each other was terrifying to behold. Orochimaru's slithering grace and proficiency against the raw and unstoppable malice that was the power of the Kyuubi...it frightened her to her very marrow.

"Anko-san."

Anko whirled around to see an ANBU in a cat mask standing behind her.

"You need to leave here, we are about to break up the fight soon."

"But what about the Uzumaki, you can't just..."

"Tenzo said he'll take care of it."

Anko frowned; she didn't want to leave just yet.

* * *

Kakashi sighed and put down his book. He couldn't concentrate; his mind was too occupied with thoughts of Orochimaru and his team.

"_Naruto...the son of the man Orochimaru hates with a passion...Sasuke...inheritor of a kekkai genkai that will make all of Orochimaru's dreams come true...this has disaster written all over it."_

If Orochimaru confronted his team, he had no doubt that his team would not walk away unscathed. The traitorous Sannin, annoying as it was, always had a way of making things go his way. If they didn't...he made them go his way and if you got in his way...

Kakashi shivered as he remembered his first mission with Orochimaru.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

Kakashi parried another slash from the Iwa-nin and buried his ninjato in the man's abdomen. The Iwa ninja gurgled and died quietly. Kakashi covered his Sharingan eye with his headband, panting quietly. A spike of chakra was his only signal before the floor gave way beneath him. A desperate Kawarimi (3) saved his life but put him in position for the Iwa ninja to attack him.

Kakashi struggled under the taijutsu assault, barely managing to dodge and parry the man's kicks and punches. Suddenly, the Iwa ninja froze up and fell to the ground, revealing the Snake Sannin standing behind him, his hand still outstretched from his strike.

"Be careful, Kakashi-kun. You never know what a rock hides underneath it."

Kakashi breathed in relief.

"Orochimaru-sama...aren't you in charge of the team..."

Orochimaru cocked his head and cursed. He quickly grabbed Kakashi and jumped away from the barrage of rocks that plummeted at them from above. Kakashi immediately began flipping through handseals but he stopped when he heard Orochimaru scream. What he saw made his blood run cold.

A lucky (or soon-to- be-unlucky) ninja had sneaked up on Orochimaru and cut off his right arm. In his rage and pain, Orochimaru had punched right through the ninja's ribcage and with a loud squelch pulled out his heart. As he glared at the other Iwa-nins who had just appeared, snakes flew out of the stump of his arm and into the severed arm. The snakes pulled the arm back to the stump and reattached it. Orochimaru swung his right arm around as a sinister smile crossed his face.

He pressed against his ribcage and opened his mouth as the hilt of a sword came through. Orochimaru grabbed it and pulled out the Kusanagi no Tsurugi (4).

"All right, who dies next?"

* * *

The slaughter that occurred cemented Orochimaru's S-ranked status in the bingo book...and was Kakashi's most vivid memory of Orochimaru's skill.

Kakashi sighed and looked out a nearby window.

"_Naruto...Sasuke...be careful."_

* * *

Rage.

Blood.

Kill.

That was all Naruto could think off.

Rage at the enemy who had threatened his life.

How satisfying spilling his blood would be.

The different ways he would kill that annoying little pest.

An evil filled laugh echoed through his mind but Naruto ignored it and concentrated on killing the snake.

He jumped at the snake, twisting his body into a whirlwind of sharp claws, similar to Kiba's Tsuuga (5). The Kyuubi's chakra enabled him to rip through the snake like a drill through paper. The snake disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"**Delicious."**

Then Naruto paused. He was no longer in the Forest of Death; he was in a huge room with poor lighting. A huge cage was in front of him, a piece of paper with the kanji for "Seal" written on it was all that held the cage doors shut. Behind the cage doors was the nine-tailed scourge that threatened Konoha so many years ago. It was wreathed in the same red chakra that Naruto was using and a stream of that red chakra was connecting Naruto to the fox.

"_WHAT THE HELL?"_

He shook his head, clearing the rage that had befuddled his mind...but the Kyuubi was having none of it.

"**WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TAKE MY POWER AND DESTROY HIM!"**

"_Get out of my head!"_

"**DON'T BE AN IDIOT! USE MY POWER TO FINISH HIM OFF!"**

But Naruto ignored him and began pulling on his own chakra, using it to push away Kyuubi's chakra. To his surprise, it was working.

"**NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"**

Naruto continued pushing Kyuubi's chakra further and further into the seal, the rage subsiding as he did so.

"**YOU LITTLE BRAT!"**

Gasping Naruto found himself in the Forest of Death and fell to his knees, muttering under his breath.

"Damn fox."

* * *

Sasuke fumed silently as he watched Orochimaru and Naruto battle from the cluster of leaves he was hiding in. It was supposed to be him out there not the class dobe.

"So, Sasuke-kun, do you really want power?"

Sasuke whipped out a kunai and swung it in an arc behind him but his arm was grabbed by a pale hand and wrenched behind him. His kunai was now at his throat.

"Do you want power to kill your brother?"

Sasuke gasped but refused to answer. Then he was forced to watch the ongoing battle between Naruto and Orochimaru.

"Do you want power to beat your idiot teammate?"

Sasuke's eyes fell on Naruto at that moment. Naruto had just pierced through the snake and had paused suddenly.

"_Naruto, where does this power come from? How can an idiot like you gain such power? Power that can help me achieve my ambitions."_

"I can give you that power. I alone can help you achieve your ambitions."

Then fangs sunk into Sasuke's neck and pain exploded from the nape of his neck and began spreading all over his body. His scream echoed throughout the clearing catching the attention of the ANBU but when they reached him, he was alone and the Cursed Seal of Heaven had formed on his shoulder.

* * *

As light forced its way through her slightly opened eyelids, Sakura became more aware of her surroundings. She could see Naruto on his knees gulping in air. As she staggered to her feet, Sasuke's screams caught her ears.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

* * *

Orochimaru smiled when he heard Sasuke's scream, his Shadow Clone was successful. And the Uzumaki had subdued the Kyuubi.

"_Good for you brat, your will is much stronger than some hosts I know. We will meet again...I am sure of it."_

Acting quickly, Orochimaru hit Naruto with the Five Elements Seal and disappeared whilst the ANBU were occupied with Sasuke.

Anko snarled as she watched Orochimaru run away.

"_How dare he waltz in and just do as he pleases? I'll show him!"_

She took off after her former sensei, rage blazing in her eyes.

* * *

Kabuto snickered as he watched his master swoop in and out with the ease indicative of his prowess. The battles that had taken place had been most illuminating.

_"Naruto-kun...I also desire the opportunity to fight you_. _You are so interesting."_

* * *

"D-d-do you feel that?" asked Ino.

"Yes, I do...mendokuse."

"What...do you think it...is?" Chouji asked between nervous munches.

Shikamaru stood still for a moment.

"Whatever it is, we need to stay far away from it."

Eagerly the rest of Team 10 agreed.

* * *

Sakura sniffled as she lugged Sasuke and Naruto towards a hollow in a tree. The ANBU hadn't been much help...scratch that, they hadn't been any help at all. They weren't allowed to interfere with the Chuunin examinees; they were just here for Orochimaru.

"Then why?" Sakura tearfully screamed. "Why has he gotten away?"

There was an uncomfortable pause before the cat-masked ANBU swore.

"Shit! Anko!"

They disappeared as quickly as they appeared...leaving Sakura to protect her two teammates.

"At least we still have our...oh no."

Quickly she rummaged through Sasuke's pouch and almost burst into tears again.

The Heaven Scroll was gone!

Sakura was disconsolate as she moved Naruto to Sasuke's side. Then, she noticed the marks on the back of Naruto's hand.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

"I figured they would keep spares just in case there were more teams than usual. "

* * *

"_Naruto..."_

The dead-last had come to the rescue once again.

* * *

Pain coursed through Anko's body as she glared at her former mentor and sensei. The serpentine smile was so smug in existence that she wished with every fiber of her being that she could erase it...even at the cost of her life.

"A word to the Hokage. Tell the old monkey that if he cancels the exam, I will burn this place to the ground."

His laughter echoed through out the forest long after he was gone.

* * *

The three genin from Oto snickered as they spied on Sakura keeping watch over her teammates. She was trying her best to stay awake and failing...pathetically.

"Why don't we take care of this right now?" asked Kin.

"Patience, that will spoil the thrill of cutting down Konoha's Last Uchiha. We will defeat him at his very best." replied Dosu with a dark chuckle.

"At dawn, the Uchiha will die...and that blond rat too." said Zaku as he tightened the bandages on his arms. "And Orochimaru will acknowledge us and our power."

* * *

Next time on No More

_"Who are these weaklings? What do they think they are doing? Oh...they want to kill me_. _Hn, idiots. With this power flowing through my veins, I am invincible. They might have some skill if they managed to hurt that bowl-haired clown, but I am Uchiha! But what is this new power I feel? Could this be..._

The Curse of The Snake

_No...this is my salvation...my destiny._

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I'm up and running. R&R

(1) Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu: Fire Release: Mythical Phoenix Fire Technique: This is another technique native to Konoha and known by the Uchihas. It allows the user to fire several fireballs instead of a single stream. The fireballs are less powerful but much more versatile.

(2) Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Summoning Technique

(3) Kawarimi no Jutsu: Replacement Technique

(4)Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Grass Cutting Sword

(5)Tsuuga: Piercing Fang


End file.
